


Lights Will Guide You Home

by behindblueyes72



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Domestic Violence, F/M, Italian Mafia, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 12:56:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19209877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/behindblueyes72/pseuds/behindblueyes72
Summary: Warning "Lights Will Guide You Home" will be an intense story that will take you to some emotional places.   It will be one hell of a ride but our Olicity will land in a beautiful loving spot.List of Characters:Felicity Smoak-ChaseOliver QueenMatteo (Matty) ManciniElena (El) ManciniDominic (Dom) ManciniMorgan ManciniAdrian ChaseSamantha ClaytonJohn (Dig) DiggleRoy HarperThea QueenTommy QueenDet. Sebastian Russo





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm almost always inspired by a song when I create a story. Same goes for Lights Will Guide You Home, inspiration came from Coldplay's beautifully cathartic song "Fix You"
> 
> If you have never listened to it, please listen before beginning my story. It will put you entirely into my frame of mind.
> 
> https://youtu.be/gXq-14lV79s

 

Chapter One

  
Felicity wiped the fog off of the bathroom mirror, her image reflected through the few remaining streaks. "Son of a bitch." She groaned quietly when she tried to raise her right arm. She hoped it wasn't dislocated. She hated going to the hospital, they asked too many questions. How many times would they believe her that she just fell or tripped?

Running a brush through her wet hair with her left hand, which was awkward seeing as she was right handed, she caught a glimpse of the bruise that was forming on her right cheek bone fading up the side of her face. Panic ran throughout her body, he had never left bruises on her face before. Marks on her arms or legs yes, but never the face. She wasn't sure if it comforted her or scared her that he'd been deliberate enough during his rages to not leave visible signs for other people to see. It would be harder to hide the marks on her face.

She turned toward the bathroom door when she heard a faint knocking. "Felicity...Felicity are you almost ready?" The young boy’s voice called out. "I'll be out in just a second okay buddy." "Yes ma’am, I'm gonna grab a pop tart, do you want one?" Felicity smiled....he was the sole reason why she was still where she was today. She'd never leave him alone with his dad, the thought scared her to death.

Opening the door just a crack she peeked through to look at her step-son. "That sounds great, just be careful with the toaster. And before you say 'But Fel..I'm ten.' I know you are but it still scares me when you use appliances." Her step-son laughed. "Felicity a toaster is not an appliance. And you’re only scared because you caught our last one on fire." "Seven stitches." She thought. "That was when I got seven stitches. " Her husband had thrown the toaster at her, furious that she'd burnt the toast so badly that she set it on fire.

Forcing a smile she replied, "Touche. I'll be out in a second okay. Oh, guess what. Today after school I'm taking you to your father's house. He just flew in last night so you get to spend the weekend with him. I know your dad or your mom usually takes you but they couldn't get off work so I'm going to drive you." She had never met William's real father, her husband had always insisted on either him or Samantha being the one to drop William off whenever he would go there.

William wasn't Adrian's biological son, but he had raised William as his own child along with his ex-wife Samantha. They had only filled her in on parts of the past. Apparently when Adrian and Samantha were still married she had a drunken one night stand with her friend Oliver Queen, resulting in William. The whole thing had caused Adrian and Samantha's marriage to fall apart. But they had continued to share custody.

William's biological father, Oliver, was in a line of work that was dangerous. She had heard rumors around town but all Adrian would tell her was Oliver loved William and wanted to protect him so he tried to keep as much distance as possible so he could live a normal life without guards constantly at his side. "And what could be more safe than living your life with a police detective?" She thought sadly.

Felicity and Adrian Chase had been married for six months before he first hit her. He had worked late one night and when he came in she made an innocent comment, no meaning behind it at all. She had simply said, "Wish you would have called to let me know you would be late, I would have keep your dinner warm for you." He picked up the dish of food and threw it at her. When it hit the wall it shattered. He threw her to the floor telling her to clean it up and when she didn't do it fast enough, he kicked her. Felicity was going to leave, in the middle of the night she packed a bag but she couldn't make it completely down the hall. The door with the blue wooden letters that spelled out her step son's name stopped her in her tracks. How on earth could she leave that little boy all alone in this house. And who would believe that a decorated police officer would be so violent. So had she turned around and stayed.

Felicity threw on a pair of jeans and a fitted burgundy long sleeve top, then ran a brush through her hair again. She had covered the bruise with concealer and blush and left her hair hanging down around her shoulders hoping no one would notice the faint bruising. Placing her black rimmed glasses on her face, slightly wincing as they made contact with a portion of the covered bruise, Felicity put on a fake smile.

Grabbing her keys and slipping on her favorite pair of flats, adorned with prints of cartoonish panda faces, they hurried out of the house as Felicity told William to run to the car. "Frack, we are so going to be so late."

  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
Felicity sat outside of her step-son's school waiting for the final bell to ring. There were a few other moms sitting on benches and gathered in small groupings on the sidewalk as well as several others in cars waiting to pick up their children. Some were standing together talking and looking her way every now and then. She could hear a word or sentence here and there. "Wonder why he isn't here.....He's so hot....Those eyes....I'd fuck him." The last comment had made her turn and look their direction. She hadn't met Mr. Queen but she had seen the pictures of him in William's room and of course in the newspaper, he wouldn't have given the two women the time of day. "Well if he has any taste." She thought with a laugh.

Obviously they knew that William's real father was home and were disappointed that he hadn't made an appearance to pick up the boy. Why she didn't understand, he never picked him up from school or in public for that matter. It would pose too much of a danger. It was harder to control a situation in the open.

A few minutes after the bell rang William came running down the front steps of the school. "Felicity...are we going to my dad's now?" She gave him a squeeze as he tucked into her left side. After kissing the top of his head she said, "Yes, but I thought on the way we could get some ice cream. What do you think about that?" William smiled widely at her, "Yes...umm....where's the car?" "At home, I thought we could walk. It's a such a pretty day and your father's place isn't that far from here. Plus walking means we can get that ice cream and not worry about making a mess in the car." Plus driving that morning had proved to be a problem, it had hurt like hell to just hold the steering wheel much less doing the actual steering. So she decided walking was a better option.

After a short walk and several minutes inside the ice cream shop trying to decide between Superhero Swirl or Moose Tracks, Felicity and William were on their way in the direction of his father's penthouse. William was devouring his Moose Tracks double scoop ice cream cone while Felicity struggled with just trying to hold onto her Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cone and carrying the container of his father's scoop of vanilla ice cream. She was going to get his father the same thing she had gotten when William started laughing. Apparently he was more of a vanilla man.

"Hey...William buddy...you want to do me a favor?" He smiled up at Felicity, his face covered in chocolate ice cream. "Sure...anything for you Fel." Leaning over she gave him a peek on the cheek. "First thank you, that was sweet and second can you carry this for me? You're so much stronger than me." She nudged him with her hip. "Sure thing." He replied taking the container from her.

"Well looks like we're here." Felicity said as the entrance for Starling City Towers, the building that Oliver Queen lived in, came into view. "Your coming in right Felicity? I want my dad to meet you." She would have rather not, she had so much stuff to get done before Adrian got home and her arm was really hurting. She needed to stop by the drugstore to pick up some ibuprofen on the way home too. But the look on her step-son's face, she could never tell him no when he looked at her like that. She always blamed it on the eyes. Those blue eyes could talk her into just about anything, if he'd ask her to knock over a bank, she'd probably do it. "Okay, but just for a minute." William jumped up and down. "Yay!!!" “Yup, Panda mask and all I'd willingly march straight into Starling First National demanding it was a stick up. Why do they call it a stick up? Who’s holding sticks up while being robbed? Seems like a good way to get shot by the robbers if you're just free willy nilly waving around sticks.” She silently rambled.

William ran the last few feet to the building entrance and was greeted by a large hulk of a man. He looked intimidating and rather like he had no sense of humor until he caught sight of the little boy. "Hey Willinator." He held up his hand for William to give him a high five but it was just out of the boy's reach. That however didn't stop William from jumping up and trying to make contact. "Your getting closer buddy. How much have you grown since the last time I saw you? Like three feet or something?" The man said with a laugh lifting William up into a big hug. "I don't know....maybe. I can reach the top shelf on the fridge now." William replied with a smile. Turning to look over at Felicity, William tugged on the large man's collar. "Uncle Dig...this is my step-mom, Felicity. Felicity this is like the most awesomest of awesome guards. His name is John Diggle, but you can call him Diggle or Dig. He has a double black belt in karate. Isn't that cool?"

Felicity smiled reaching forward to shake the man's outstretched hand. "The coolest. Don't think I've ever met a double black belt before. It's really nice to meet you Mr. Diggle. I don't know if they said anything but I'm dropping...." Diggle interrupted her before she could finish. "First of all, call me Dig and second Oliver informed us that William's step-mom would be dropping him off today. You've been cleared. You two can go on up, here you go buddy." The man added as he let William down to the ground. "Your dad is waiting for you." Diggle opened the door for Felicity and William to pass through. “Nice to meet you Ms. Chase.” He smiled back at Felicity. With a slight shake of her head and a smile of her own she likewise corrected Dig. “Felicity, call me Felicity.” “Will do.”

The whole elevator ride up William rambled about his dad. He rode a motorcycle but William had to wear a helmet when he rode with him and judging from the look on her step-son's face, he'd rather not wear one. He played pool and no one was better at it than him. He lifted weights on a regular basis, climbed amazingly high on something called a salmon ladder, and in fact William could hang from one of his arms and his dad could lift him way in the air. "All the way to the ceiling." He bragged. She hid her smile behind her hand. She kinda thought that might be an exaggeration.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open revealing an empty hallway. Stepping off Felicity realized that there were only two apartments on the floor. Each situated on either side of the elevator. William ran out the open doors toward the penthouse on the left and began ringing the door bell over and over again. "William...don't do that. That's rude honey. People don't like you to do that." William looked at her with a funny look on his face. She didn't know his dad. It was their game.

From the other side of the closed door Felicity heard a deep voice call out. "Whose there?" William giggled. "Me." The man's voice who she assumed was William's dad replied. "Me who?" William laughed even more. "Me dad." She could hear the man working to control his laughter. "Me dad who?" William doubled over in laughter. "Daaaad." Just as the door swung open. "Dad!!!" William squealed as he launched himself into the man's arms.

He was tall and broad. And Felicity could tell William was right, he lifted weights on a daily basis. She was pretty sure if she took the time she could count each and every muscle that covered his body. As her eyes moved upwards she saw a set of familiar eyes looking at her step-son. He definitely had his father's eyes. His face was….well she couldn’t think of a better way to describe Mr. Queen than an Adonis God. “Strong jawline, light scruff, chiseled cheekbones and I'm getting carried away…focus woman, focus.” She mentally admonished herself. The pictures in the papers didn't do him justice, he was very handsome. His light brown hair was short and stood in a disarray of short spikes.

"Hey buddy...it's good to see you. Well what I can see of you underneath all of that chocolate." Felicity held her breath, right now would be when there was lots of yelling because she had allowed William to become such a mess. But instead William's father laughed. "Did you actually get any in your stomach or did you just smear it all over your face?" William laughed. "No dad, I ate it..it was sooo good. Felicity let me pick it all by myself. We got you some too. Don't worry it’s vanilla." William said reassuringly. Oliver actually looked relieved. "Okay, thanks buddy." His father took the container and sat it down on the table beside his couch.

The man turned to look at her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I'm Oliver...Oliver Queen. You must be Adrian's wife, Felicity. It's nice to finally meet you." He said as he reached out his right arm to shake her hand. Involuntarily, Felicity raised her own right arm to shake and winced when she remembered her hurt arm. Lowering her arm she awkwardly extended her left and shook. An electric shock ran threw her hand and up her arm at their contact. Looking at their connected hands for a moment Felicity slowly slid her hand from his. "Mr. Queen." He shook his head. "It's Oliver. Call me Oliver." He was distracted for a moment, when they had touched he had felt a shock run through his body. That had never happened to him before.

Felicity smiled and corrected her greeting. "Oliver...it's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you. William talks about you all the time." Oliver smiled back as he lowered William to the ground. "He talks about you all the time too. I think I probably know more about you than you know about yourself." He was confused by the look of....fear...that flashed across her face. Felicity darted her eyes around the room. "Well...ummm...it was really nice to meet you but...umm..William honey, I really need to get going." William ran into her side causing her to flinch at the contact with her right arm. She let out a sharp breath and suddenly felt really sick at her stomach.

Felicity closed her eyes, concentrating on breathing in through her nose and out of her mouth, trying to steady her now queasy stomach. She pushed her hair off of her face As tiny beads of perspiration began to slide down her face. As she pushed back her hair Oliver noticed a faint purplish bruise on her cheek running upwards underneath her rimmed glasses. Most people wouldn't have noticed it but he'd had enough bruises in his life. But the most noticeable thing was the look of agony that was on her face. When William had ran into her she had flinched as if it hurt really bad.

"Hey...William buddy. Why don't you run upstairs and put your stuff in your room? Don't worry, Felicity isn't going anywhere yet." William gave her one more squeeze as Oliver watched her flinch once again, she was obviously in pain. William quickly ran upstairs to his room.

Oliver waited until he was out of hearing range to turn to look at Felicity. "Hey..hey...you okay?" He asked moving quickly to her side when he noticed her face was pale and she looked like she might pass out. "I'm...I'm fine." She tried to smile but it didn't exactly look sincere. Oliver reached his hands out to support her and she instinctively pulled back. The only time anyone got that close to her was to hurt her. Oliver whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to look at your arm."

There was something in his eyes, a look on his face. It was sincerity and for some reason she trusted him. Oliver rubbed his hands together several times fast, the motion fascinated Felicity for some odd reason. He then gently placed his hand on her neck then slowly ran it down toward her arm. She winced in pain as he touched the top of her shoulder. He slid his hand under her arm and nudged it just a little bit. She reached out and grabbed his shoulder with her left arm to brace herself. "Felicity, I think you dislocated your arm. I need to take you to the hospital." Felicity shook her head quickly. "No...no hospitals. I....I hate hospitals. It will be okay, I'll be okay. I just need to rest. Put some ice on it or is it heat. Do you know if it’s ice or heat for a bruised shoulder? Not that it would be specific to a shoulder, the ice or heat thing. But I just can never remember if you should use ice or…" Suddenly aware of her rambling, Felicity stopped midsentence, Adrian hated her rambles. Oliver simply listened, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Almost mirroring William’s own crooked smile.

"Felicity...dislocated shoulders don't just get better. They have to be popped back into place. Felicity how did you do this?" That same look of fear that had crossed her face a few moments ago flashed in her eyes again but she quickly pushed it away and said. "I…I was moping and slipped on the floor. William doesn't know cause he'd worry about me, but really it’s not a big deal." Oliver wasn't sure if he completely believed her story. Sure it could happen, people slip and fall all the time but there was this look in Felicity's eyes. Something just felt off to Oliver. She was so afraid of something, accidentally falling wouldn't make you afraid.

Oliver thought for a moment. "Okay look...I can't just let you leave like this and you don't want to go to the hospital. I've got another option but I'm not sure you’re going to like it." Felicity looked up at him, she'd probably regret it but she really had no other option cause if she didn't at least see what he was offering he was probably going to throw her over his shoulder and force her into the hospital. He looked like he'd do something like that. "It will hurt but I can pop it back into place. I know how, I've had mine dislocated several times and had to fix mine myself a couple of times." Felicity was suddenly sick at her stomach for an entirely different reason. At least at the hospital they'd give you drugs first, nice mind loopy pain numbing drugs but she didn't have another option that wouldn't involve an inquest.

With her eyes closed she reluctantly agreed. "Okay. Umm how bad does it hurt exactly?" He wouldn't lie to her. "It hurts like hell but not as bad as it does now. Well maybe for a second it hurts a lot worst but then its over." Felicity laughed slightly. "You know you're a horrible salesman. You could at least spin it for me a little bit. Make it sound like unicorns and glitter are going to appear for some reason or some nonsense." Oliver looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Why? That would be a lie. It's going to hurt so I told you it's going to hurt." It wasn’t a rude reply, simply an honest reply on his part. Felicity saw a mixture of sincerity, concern, and sympathy in his eyes.

Oliver involuntarily let out a soft laugh, he let his arm fall back to his side as he moved toward the stairs in his penthouse. As he walked away she heard him mumble something about unicorns and glitter as he shook his head. "William buddy?" He called upstairs. Felicity leaned her body against the desk that was just across from the front door and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her shirt sleeve. William came running down the stairs at a full tilt run. "Yeah dad." Oliver smiled at his son. "Hey buddy. Can you do me a favor? I need you to run next door to Uncle Matteo's for just a minute. You can take your DS with you and play with Morgan for a little bit. He's spending the weekend with his dad. I'll call Uncle Matteo when I'm done okay?" William nodded in agreement as he ran and grabbed his game system from one of the small series of wooden cubes under the television.

William was almost out the door when he turned back and looked at Felicity. "Your not leaving yet are you?" Felicity smiled as best as she could. "Nope, wouldn't dream of leaving without telling my favorite guy in the whole wide world bye. Pinky swear.” She replied wiggling her left pinky in the air, quickly adding. “You go have fun with Morgan, I'll be here when you get back." William smiled then ran out the door closing it behind him.

Oliver turned to look at his son's step-mother. "You okay?" Felicity smiled. "I could say I'm just peachy but since we're being honest and telling the whole truth and all. Frack no...it hurts like a son of a bitch." Oliver couldn't help laughing. "I might have something that can help that a little bit." And he turned walking over to a cabinet setting up against the wall next to the stairs. He took a bottle of what looked like whiskey to her and poured half of a glass then brought it over to her. "Drink this...it will take the edge off. And then...I need you to take your shirt off." Felicity had just taken a sip of the drink he had handed her, she nearly choked on it when he asked her to take her shirt off. Oliver had a smile on his face. "I didn't mean it to come out that way. I just need you to take your shirt off so I can see the joint in your shoulder so I can make sure I pop it the correct way. I have to be able to feel skin on skin to tell its going the correct way."

Felicity thought about it for a moment and it made sense, at least she hoped it did. Setting down her drink she started to pull up the hem of her shirt when she realized it was impossible. "I think...I think I need some help." Oliver suddenly felt unsure of what he was about to do. He'd just met this woman all of ten minutes ago and now he was asking her to strip down in front of him. But still he reached out and slowly pulled her shirt off of her body.

Suddenly feeling very vulnerable, Felicity couldn't help nervously cracking a joke. "Damn this has to be some sort of a record." Oliver looked at her in confusion. "I mean seriously, I met you what ten minutes ago and you've already managed to get liquor in me and sand now you're stripping me out of my clothes. I mean, I’m sure women love having you strip them out of their clothes. You probably have a ton of volunteers cause well you’re sort of gorgeous. Like male model gorgeous. Like Adonis gorgeous." Aware of her embarrassingly nervous ramble Felicity paused to collect her thoughts. “3….2….1, sorry sometimes I ramble random errant thoughts when I’m nervous or about to hack from impending excruciating pain apparently.” Oliver simply smiled. “It’s okay.”

He then stepped directly in front of Felicity and positioned his hands on her shoulder and body. "I promise to be as easy as I can. And Felicity?" He asked as he moved his hands a bit more. "What?" she asked looking into his eyes as he stared intently into hers. "I'm sorry." Oliver said, his voice laced full off apology as he pulled her arm causing Felicity to scream out in pain.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Just for visual reference, Elena and Matteo Mancini

 

Chapter Two

Felicity returned home to a dark, empty house. It seemed Adrian was working late again and of course he hadn't said a word about it to her. It was natural though, if he wasn't yelling at her, he was flat out ignoring her. She wasn't sure which one made her feel worse. And honestly, she didn't understand why he even wanted to stay married to her since it was obvious that he didn't love her.

He hadn't always been this way. In the beginning, he was good to her. She meet Adrian through his cousin Elena Mancini. When Felicity had moved to Starling City she had landed a management position at The Emerald Heights, a luxury hotel owned by Elena.

Elena was one of those people that you love and hate at the same exact time. She did things that would make absolutely no sense but you knew that she was doing them because she cared. She was also stubborn beyond belief and when she had decided she wanted something, it was only a matter of time before it happened.

Elena had got it in her head that Adrian and Felicity would be perfect for each other. Eventually she agreed to go out with him. He was nice and they got along fine. She liked him, she just didn't feel that spark that they always say you are suppose to feel when you meet the one that is meant for you. But she had fun with him and then there was William. From the moment that she met him there was an instant bond.

She loved that little boy with every single solitary inch of her heart. He had a way of making her smile even when she felt like she was drowning out in the middle of a deep dark ocean. He was like a ray of light.

After changing into a pair of grey joggers and white tank top, Felicity went into the kitchen to pull some things from the fridge to start dinner. He might not come home until morning but she still had to have dinner ready. Soon the sound of popping and sizzling filled the kitchen. And honestly, there was the slight aroma of something burnt floating along with it. She'd burnt the first two pieces of chicken and had to start over.

The sound of the phone ringing startled her. She threw the dish towel she had in her hand on to the counter and grabbed the phone off the kitchen table. "Hello. Chase residence." A newly familiar voice answered from the other end of the line. "Felicity...hey I hope it's not too late but somebody wanted to say goodnight. Do you have time?" She smiled brightly. "For William...I always have time." She turned and shut the stove burner off. She knew talking on the phone and cooking didn't mix. She had already been down that road before.

"Hey Felicity...what's you doing?" William asked as soon as he got on the phone. "Cooking dinner for your dad. What are you doing?" William made a face, he loved Felicity but not her cooking. "Do you have the fire extinguisher?" William asked but before she could answer she heard him in a muffled voice saying "She's cooking. Felicity needs the extinguisher." She could also hear Oliver in the background saying in between laughter, that it wasn't nice for him to say that. "Ha ha ha.....and yes William I have it, in fact I'm looking at it right now." She added glancing over at the huge red thing on the counter. "Okay." William replied with the sound of relief in his voice. "Umm...is dad there?" William asked. "No buddy, he's still at work but he should be home any minute."

William was quiet for a moment. "Felicity, be careful. I love you." Felicity's eyes filled with tears. He had never seen his dad hit her but she knew there were times that he heard the yelling. "I love you to the moon and back." "To infinity and beyond!!” William mimicked one of his favorite movies. “Night Fel. My daddy wants to talk to you." And then there was the sound of the phone being passed to his father. "Good night buddy...I'll be up in just a second to tuck you in. I'm going talk to Felicity for just a minute." and then his conversation turned to her. "Hey, I don't mean to keep you." Felicity smiled. "No, it's fine. I don't mind." She liked Oliver, he had an easiness about him. She could tell that William worshiped the ground he walked on and he in turn felt the same way about William.

"Well, I just wanted to see how you were feeling. Is your arm okay?" Felicity pulled out a chair at the table and sat down as she absently began to rearrange the fruit in a bowl in the center of the table. "It's a little sore but at least it doesn't hurt like...." Oliver added with a laugh. "A son of a bitch. I believe the term you used was it hurt like a son of a bitch." Felicity laughed along with him. Their laughter died down leaving a moment of silence. "Felicity." Oliver said breaking the silence. "Yes." "If you ever need anything, feel free to ask." There was another moment of silence, then Felicity replied. "Oliver, thank you...for everything." "Not a problem. And I meant it, you need anything just call me." Felicity could tell it wasn't just an empty offer. Not just the kind of well wishes that people say in passing, he meant it.

"So how long do you think you will be in town...." Felicity's voice trailed off when she heard the front door open. "Felicity..I'm home. What the hell is that smell? You burnt something again didn't you. God damn it.” She held her hand over the phone receiver trying to block out Adrian's voice but Oliver heard everything that he had said. "I'm sorry Oliver I gotta go. I need to finish dinner and Oliver.....thank you." And he heard Felicity's end of the phone disconnect.

"Who was that on the phone?" Adrian asked as he walked into the kitchen. Felicity laid the phone down and went back to the stove. After turning the burner back on she replied, "William...he called to say goodnight. It will be just a minute for dinner. Everything is ready except for the chicken but it's almost done." Adrian walked over to stand behind Felicity. There were two pieces of chicken in the skillet and on a plate next to the stove was a potato and two vegetables.

He didn't say anything, he just walked out of the kitchen shaking his head. Felicity heard the door to their bedroom slam shut.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oliver walked into his son's bedroom. He was sitting in the floor playing with a pile of legos. "Busted." Oliver said as he walked up to William and lifted him off of the ground. William giggled and laughed as Oliver tickled his sides. The legos that were still in his hands dropped to the floor. "Dadddddddyyyyyyy." He laughed. "You were suppose to be in bed." Oliver said as he flopped him down on to the bed. "I got bored." His son replied straightening out his pajama top. "Okay....I guess it's bed time. Good night." Oliver said with a smile on his face as he went to walk out of the room. "Daddy!!" William whined mixed with laughter.

"What?" Oliver asked turning to look at his son as if he didn't know what he wanted. "I'm not tucked in yet."

Oliver smiled at his son, "Ohhhh yeah,." He walked back to the bed as William scooted to the middle and laid down. Oliver pulled the covers up over him and kissed him on the forehead. "Good night buddy, love you." And stood up to leave again, still with a smile on his face. He knew what was coming next, this had turned into a game they played out every night at bed time. William thought it was funny. "Dadddyyyy!" William laughed as he called for his dad. "Wiilllliiiaammm." Oliver called back in the same tone as his son had. "Daddy you forgot my story, again."

Oliver acted again as if he had forgotten. "How could I forget?" He walked over to the book shelf next to William's bedroom window "Which one?" He asked turning to look at his son. William thought for a moment. "Hmm...Australia." He finally decided.

Oliver pulled the book off of the shelf and climbed on the bed next to his son, William scooted closer to his dad. "Felicity reads to me every night too." Oliver looked at William. "She does?" "Uh huh. She got me a book about Aruba. She says it's her favorite place. She said someday she wants to go. Felicity's nice isn't she?" Oliver ruffled the top of his son's head. "Yeah buddy, she's great. " "She's really pretty too isn't she?" "Yes, she's very pretty." William made a face. "Her food sucks." Oliver tried not to laugh. "It's not nice to say that buddy. Now, how about we read." Under his breath nearly inaudible, William replied “You've never ate her omlettes.” With a quiet shudder.

Tucking in closer to his dad's side William asked "Would you yell at Felicity?" just as Oliver flipped open the book about Australia. He shut the book and turned his body so he could look at his son. "Does somebody yell at Felicity?" He was pretty sure what the answer was going to be. "Yeah...dad. He makes her sad." Oliver could see and hear the sadness in William. "William...does....have you ever seen him hit Felicity?" His son shook his head no. It was reassuring to know that William had never seen Adrian be physical towards Felicity but it still did nothing for his gut feeling that there was something wrong, but he didn't want to scare his son until he was sure.

Oliver let out a sigh and opened the book once more and began to read. "Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere.........."

xxxxxx

Felicity stretched and yawned once more before she opened the door to Archie's Diner. She hadn't slept very well the night before. The couch was horribly uncomfortable. Going to bed wasn’t an option. Adrian had remained in the locked bedroom all night. And now she was in search of a huge up of coffee. Felicity went straight to the counter and ordered a large Mocha Latte.

"Felicity." She heard a squeal from behind just as William crashed into her. Turning she gave him a hug and a kiss on top of the head. "Hey baby." Then looked up to see Oliver smiling at the both of them. He was wearing a dark navy blue Henley and jeans. Felicity’s thoughts began to ramble. “Oliver should wear Henley’s all the time. There should be a law requiring it. Can you actually make a law requiring someone to wear a specific type of clothing? I should Google that, just out of curiosity.” Even though she tried to fight it, the sight of him caused butterflies in Felicity's stomach. A light chuckle from Oliver caught her attention. The realization hit her that she had said all of that out loud. But he said nothing in reply. Just smiled that crooked smile revealing the small dimple in his left cheek.

"Hey Oliver, you two eating at Archie's this morning?" Felicity inwardly kicked herself. "Stupid question Felicity, they're in a restaurant of course they’re eating here." "Yeah, care to join us?" Oliver replied with a smile. Adrian would have rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, come on Felicity. Eat with us, pllllllleeeassseeeee." William begged pulling her in the direction of an empty booth. Felicity let him pull her along, "Well since you put it that way. I would love to join the both of you."

They all three settled into a booth along the far wall of the diner. Felicity glanced over her menu but noticed that neither William nor Oliver were even looking at theirs'. "So, I'm guessing you guys already know what you're having?" She asked laying her menu back down on the table. "We're having milkshakes!" William exclaimed. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Oliver. "Milkshakes?" He ran a hand over his mouth hiding a guilty looking smile. "I only get to spend so much time with him, I tend to give on the small stuff. We always have milkshakes for breakfast at Archie's on our weekends together." He said shrugging slightly.

"Ahh...I see....so he's had you wrapped around his little finger for how long now?" Felicity watched as he smiled, his eyes seemed to lighten a couple of shades of blue as he laughed. "For a pretty good while now." Oliver admitted.

"Oh, Felicity you should have one too. They are really, really good." William said with a smile that reminded her so much of his Oliver's. His eyes shined just the same when he smiled as well. "I don't know about that, my coffee's fine." She knew what Adrian's thoughts would be, milkshakes for breakfast weren't practical. Oliver's tone changed, no longer just playful. He leaned a little closer to her, "Felicity, if you want a milkshake get one. " She thought for a moment and then smiled. "You know what? I want a milkshake. I think I'll have a mint chocolate chip one, how about you William?" He smiled brightly. "Peanut butter and chocolate."

Oliver shook his head, both milkshakes sounded disgusting to him. "Okay buddy, here this should be enough." He handed William some money. "Order three large shakes, your peanut butter and chocolate shake, a...mint chocolate chip one?” Oliver glanced at Felicity to make sure he ordered right. When Felicity nodded in agreement he continued. “And a vanilla one." Felicity laughed as William ran up to the counter. Turning back to look at Oliver she said, "Wow, vanilla. You know you don't strike me as the vanilla type. I'd have thought you'd go for something a little more....daring." Oliver was about to answer when they were interrupted.

Felicity didn't have to turn around to know who it was, she recognized the voice. "Well well, Mrs. Chase. It would seem you are presently in the company of one of SCPD's most notorious gangsters. You oughta be more careful of the company you keep. And Mr. Queen care to shed some light on a little incident that occurred on the docks a couple of days ago?" But before he could respond Felicity stepped in. "Sebastian, enough." The detective turned to look at her. "Enough what? So are you now in the business of protecting Matteo Mancini's hired killer? He kills innocent people for a living, shouldn't you be a little afraid to be hanging around him?" Felicity's blood began to boil. "Sebastian!" she yelled, perhaps a little too loudly, but she really didn't care. "I said enough. William is standing right over there where he can hear you. And standing here blaming Oliver for anything that allegedly happened because of something that he, in your mind, allegedly did does not need to happen in front of him."

Sebastian folded his arms across his chest in frustration. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would think that it sounds like you care just a little bit too much about Mr. Queen here. Wonder what your husband would say about that?" And that was the moment that Felicity lost her nerve. She had been so upset by the way he was speaking to Oliver and doing it in front of William that she hadn't thought about the fact that Sebastian was Adrian's partner. He'd surely tell Adrian about all of this. Looking down at her hands she suddenly got very quiet. The change didn't go unnoticed by Oliver. He spoke up to turn the conversation back his direction. "Detective Russo...I believe you were speaking with me."

The detective turned back to look once more at Oliver. "Yes, do you care to explain why a shipment at the docks just miraculously disappeared two days ago?" Oliver looked back with a cold, blank stare. His eyes darkened to a deep dark blue color. His jaw was clenched tightly. "I have nothing to say to you....." Sebastian finished his sentence. "Without my attorney present. I promise you Mr. Queen, the SCPD has that memorized by heart." "Then why do you keep asking?" Felicity thought sarcastically. "Good day Detective Russo." Was all Oliver replied.

"Ahh, Detective Russo, while I always welcome the SCPD in my establishment." Mike, the older gentleman who ran Archie's, said as he walked up to their booth. "I would ask that you let this go at this moment in time, seeing as there are children present." He made a motion towards the counter where William was standing and watching the entire exchange. "This isn't the end of this. Have a good day...Mike, Felicity, William." He called out to the little boy, then turned and walked away.

William walked quietly back to their booth and sat down the milkshakes. He scooted into the booth keeping his eyes down . Felicity could tell he was on the verge of crying. Mike excused himself after offering his sincerest of apologies and well wishes for the day. Oliver looked down at his son. "You okay buddy?" William shook his head no then looked up with tears in his eyes. "He said you are a killer. Daddy he said you kill people." But it was Felicity who stepped in.

"William honey, look at me." Both William and Oliver turned to look at Felicity. "Do you believe your daddy is a good man?" William shook his head yes. "Is your daddy good to you? Is he loving and caring?" William shook his head yes again to both questions. "Has your daddy ever hurt you, yelled at you, or been mean to you?" William shook his head no. "Then maybe Sebastian just doesn't know your daddy. It doesn't matter what other people think, it only matters what you and I think." "But...but that is dad's partner." Felicity shook her head. "Just because he is your dad's partner doesn't mean he can't be wrong. Because all I see setting in front of me is a good, caring, loving man....and I don't need anyone else to prove otherwise to me."

Oliver was taken back for a moment, he'd never heard anyone defend him the way that Felicity had just done. He reached his hand out and placed it over hers. "Thank you." was his quiet reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter deals with death and violence.

Chapter Three

Felicity avoided going home as long as she possibly could. She sat and talked at Archie's with Oliver and William for well over an hour after her confrontation with Adrian's SCPD partner, Sebastian. As luck would have it, Elena had been her saving grace to going home. She had called Felicity at Archie's insisting they go shopping. She needed a girls day out away from Matteo and the boys. Elena swore she was not going to survive Dominic and Morgan's teenage years.

After she meet her at the shopping mall Felicity made a mental note to ask Oliver exactly how Elena knew she had hurt her arm. Oliver and Elena were best friends. She was starting to understand just why Elena loved Oliver so much.

Felicity turned her key in the lock slowly, she dreaded opening up the front door. As she stepped in she heard his low voice coming from the couch. "What in the hell were you thinking?" To anyone else, he might sound calm. But she could hear the rage that hovered just beneath the surface of his cool exterior. "I..I don't know what you are talking about." She said as she went to pass in front of the couch. Adrian stood up to block her way. "You know exactly....what...I'm talking about. What the fuck is wrong with you? You're now defending a god damn killer in public to my partner of all people?" For the first time in a long time, Felicity was angry. "Why are you talking about him that way? He is a part of your son. Your son, you remember him right? Because William was right there when Sebastian was saying all of those things about Oliver."

She must have let her guard down, something she had always made sure not to do, cause she didn't see it coming. Adrian threw his arm up and wrapped his hand around her throat. He squeezed hard enough to cut off her breathing. With a shake he said, "You....are not allowed to associate with him in public. Do you hear me? He is like a disease, he infects everything around him with a poison and eventually everyone pays a price for it. Why don't you ask him about his sister?"

Adrian loosened his grip just enough where Felicity could finally take a breath. "His sister was my best friend. She was beautiful and full of life and now, now she is buried six feet under the ground in a cold, dark place. And all because that man is her brother. Why don't you ask him about that?”  
Adrian shook her one more time then released his grip and stormed out of the house slamming the door behind him.

Felicity threw her hand up to her throat and gasped for air. The rush of oxygen was a shock to her system and she staggered for a moment until she fell to the couch.

She couldn't really be sure how long she had been sitting there. There were no tears, she hadn't cried in a long time. Maybe she was just becoming numb to the pain. A knock at the door startled Felicity out of her thoughts. Slowly she stood up and walked to the door stopping at the mirror next to the doorway. She reached to the coat rack and grabbed a silk scarf that was hanging on it then wrapped it around her neck in a loop. It sort of matched her top so it wouldn't look completely out of place and it did a good job of hiding the already forming bruises. Somewhere in the back of her mind a sprout of knowledge was forming, Adrian was losing what little control he still held onto.

Felicity opened the door, "Fel hey I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time." Felicity smiled slightly. "No, no your fine. Come on in Samantha." Felicity and Samantha had a unique relationship, she was sure not many wives and ex-wives were what you would consider friends. Maybe there was some appearance of friendliness, but not friends. But Felicity genuinely liked Samantha.

Felicity stepped aside to allow her to enter. Samantha couldn't help noticing that there was something off. "You're sure your not busy? I just needed to drop off William's permission slip for his field trip." Felicity shut the door and turned toward William's mother. "No, seriously I wasn't doing anything. Oh, thanks ...I'll make sure Adrian signs it tonight." "That's fine, just tell Adrian to take it to the station and I'll pick it up on my lunch break.” Felicity absently stared at the slip of paper in his slightly shaking hands. A reminder of why she stayed in this nightmare that had become her reality. With a quiet sigh she placed the field trip form on the desk near the front door. “Felicity, is there something wrong?"

Felicity instinctively ran her hand across her neck. "Well, Samantha do you mind if I ask you something?" Samantha shook her head no. "No, what's up?" Felicity motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. "I was just wondering, what…what happened to Oliver's sister and what did he have to do with it?" Samantha's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Besides blaming himself endlessly for it? Which I've never, I don't think anyone who truly knows him has." Felicity knew differently. "But, what happened? That is if you don't mind telling me?"

She shook her head no again. "No, it's okay. It's just still hard to talk about it even after all this time. See Thea, Oliver's sister, was so happy. She was marrying her high school sweetheart. God they were so happy, her and Roy, Roy Harper. He was Thea's fiancée. Anyway, she had been begging Oliver for so long to be a part of the wedding party. She wanted him to walk her down the isle seeing as their father had passed away a few years back. Finally she wore him down. She kind of had that effect on him." Samantha smiled sadly. Felicity could see how this would be true. William had that same effect on him.

"She was a beautiful bride." Samantha shook her head as if she was trying to erase an image. "They made it down the isle and just as Oliver was giving her away....there was a shot. One shot was all it took." Samantha let out a long breath. "Oliver tried to save her. He wouldn't give up. He was a wreck. We all were. It was hard losing her, she meant so much to all of us. There are still times like when William does something funny or adorable or crazy, I actually reach for the phone to call her and tell her. I can't image how he feels. He just bottles everything up inside. He's never truly let anyone into his life. I'm not even sure there is anyone out there that could truly handle it all." Felicity now had tears in her eyes, tears for this man she had only just met but instantly felt some sort of connection to.

"When..when did it happen?" Samantha ran a hand through her hair. "I can't believe Adrian has never told you about this. It happened, let's see William's ten now....gosh, it's hard to believe that Thea's been gone for over ten years." She suddenly got this far off look in her eyes. Realization hit Felicity, "You mean? You mean that William was......" her voice trailed off. Samantha smiled sadly. "We all sort of went off the deep end. I guess you could say I self destructed. Pain and alcohol do not mix. But....I got something amazing out of all of it."

xxxxxxx

 

William stared straight ahead as Oliver drove down the street. He was mad and he wasn't speaking to his dad.

"So, exactly how long is this silent treatment going to last?" Oliver asked glancing over at his son. There was no reply. "William buddy, I'm sorry. You know that I have to work. We've been over this before. I don't like leaving you but I have to. You know that I love you and don't want to hurt you." There was still no reply. It was moments like this that Oliver knew without a doubt that he was his son. He had mastered the art of a cold, blank stare early on.

"I'm gonna miss you." Oliver's voice was full of sadness.

xxxxxx

Felicity was busy folding clothes when the phone rang. "Hello." Oliver smiled at the sound of her voice. "Felicity hey, uhhh, it's Oliver." She couldn't help smiling. Her stomach did little flip flops. "Hey Oliver. I was just thinking about you." She slammed the palm of her hand on her forehead. "Why did I just say that?"

Oliver shifted his weight in the seat of his escalade. "Really, about what?" William couldn't help noticing how his dad's whole demeanor changed when he talked to or talked about Felicity. It made him smile in spite of how angry he was at his dad at the particular moment.

Felicity shook away the shiver that ran down her spine. "Umm, I mean....I was thinking about, wondering what, you know, you and William were doing. Together, as in the two of you. Not wondering what you in particular were doing, by yourself." She rolled her own eyes at just how ridiculous she sounded. Oliver looked over at William, he was still staring straight ahead but was now smiling.

"Taking the most silent car ride I've ever been on before." He replied with a shake of his head. "Umm, sorry I'm not following you." Oliver laughed. "Somebody's not speaking to me, I believe his words were 'for the rest of eternity'." Felicity shook with laughter. "Oh boy, what did you do now? Did you tell him no when he asked for something?" "No, honestly he has a reason to be mad at me. I had something come up and well that is what I'm calling you about Felicity. Samantha has a double shift at the hospital tonight and..." Felicity smiled. "And you need to drop William off for tonight?" Oliver 's voice changed, he sounded sad. "Not just tonight, I need to fly out of town tonight. I'm going to be gone for at least two weeks."

Felicity's heart sank, why she had no idea, his leaving town shouldn't effect her. "Oh, oh I see. That's too bad." "You don't mind me bringing him back early?" Felicity smiled "I never mind having William around. I'll be waiting for you."

"See you in a few minutes."

"See you soon Oliver." He flipped his phone shut and looked over at his son. "Hey, I know you’re mad and you’re not speaking to me but I want to tell you something. While I'm gone, if you need anything. Just call. I promise I will always answer your call."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:
> 
> This is a very painful heart wrenching chapter. 
> 
> This chapter graphicly deals with domestic violence. Please if this is too much just skip the chapter. 
> 
> It was hard to write but painfully necessary for the story to progress 😢

Chapter Four “Fucking. Unbelievable.” Adrian startled Felicity just as she was stepping out of the shower. She never even heard him come into the bathroom. “Adrian, keep your voice down.” Felicity was afraid William would hear . "What, you don't want to hear it out loud?" Wrapping the towel tightly around herself, Felicity looked at him in confusion. "Adrian, I don't know what you're talking about? Hear what out loud?" Felicity watched as he flexed his hand in and out of a gripped fist. "You just couldn't help yourself could you? You wanted him to touch you, that's what it is isn't it?” She was afraid to take a breath. Felicity had never seen Adrian like this before. “You had to weekwash him off of you before I got home didn't you?" He added in disgust. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said once more. Adrian stepped closer to her, running a hand down her damp arm. "Did he touch you like this or did you like it a little more rough?" Suddenly he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head to the side exposing her bare neck and bit down. Felicity let out a scream. "Adrian......Adrian stop." She tried to push him off but he was too strong. He spun the both of them around and slammed her back against the wall. "What's the matter, you only want to spread your legs for that monster? Or maybe I wasn't rough enough? Is that it? Do you like Oliver to be rough?" Adrian pulled her head towards him by the hair and then slammed it back against the wall. Felicity had to blink a couple of times for everything to come back into focus. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Oliver had just pulled into the lot at the air strip when his phone rang, he assumed it was Matteo wanting to know where he was. He let out a long sigh then picked up his phone off of the center console. It was William. "Hey buddy I guess your not mad at ......" William's cries cut him off. "Daddy.....daddy....you have to help her. Daddy please." He cried with a muffled voice. Oliver was already turning the key in the ignition as he spoke. "William? William what's wrong?" He could hear screaming in the background. "Daddy I think he's going to kill her. You have to help her." He was now sobbing. "William I'm on my way. Hide. Go hide in the closet. I'm on my way." Oliver accelerated as he reached into his black duffle bag for the burner phone he had brought with him. He could still hear William's quiet sobs. xxxxxx "Stop fighting me!" Adrian screamed as he ripped off Felicity's towel. "I'm going to show you what it's like to have a real man fuck you. You're going to forget that you ever let him inside of you." Felicity screamed out. "Adrian stop, he didn't touch me. Oliver never touched me. Nothing happened." Adrian grabbed her by the hair again and threw her to the ground. "Please." She begged. He could imagine her lying underneath Oliver just as Samantha once had, begging please...."Please I need you." He heard Samantha’s voice echoing in his mind. Adrian kicked her in the side as she attempted to crawl away, then reached out and pulled her back towards him. xxxxxx "Damn it, answer!" Oliver screamed. Finally after three tries Elena answered. "El, don't talk just listen. Get to Felicity and Adrian's now. I'll get there before you, just go now." And he flipped the phone shut throwing it to the floor board. "William...Will you still there buddy?" He nodded his head yes as he answered, "Uh huh." “Okay, don't go out there. As much as you want to, don't. I'm almost there. Don't come out until I come in and get you okay? You here me?" "Yes...yes...yes sir." He was crying so hard that it took a few tries to get it out. xxxxxx Adrian was on top of Felicity with one hand over her mouth and the other trying to unzip his pants. One of his leg's was bent in a kneeling position, pinning her to the floor. Felicity's screams were muffled but she continued to push and shove with her arms and hands. xxxxxx Oliver gripped the steering wheel tighter as he pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor board. He knew he was maxing out well over 100 but he didn't care. xxxxxx Just as he positioned himself between her legs Felicity bit down as hard as she could on his hand, she could taste blood on her tongue. "Son of a bitch. You whore, you bit me." Felicity pushed and shoved at his chest. "No fuck!" She screamed. Adrian pulled his arm back and punched her, his fist making contact with her cheek. Adrian drew his arm back once more when suddenly he was being pulled backwards. "Get the fuck off of her!" Oliver screamed as he pulled Adrian off of Felicity and threw him against the wall. Adrian slid into a seated position. Oliver pulled him up and threw him against the wall once more, holding him in place this time as he punched him. Felicity scooted to the other side of the bathroom trying to get as far away from Adrian as she could. Oliver let Adrian fall to the floor. He was semi conscious, at the moment Oliver didn't care if he was even alive. Oliver turned to see Felicity huddled in the corner. She had her legs pulled up against her chest, she was naked, and bloody. He walked slowly over to her as he took his jacket off. “Felicity.” Oliver quietly spoke her name as he gently reached out to her. She flinched, her eyes still on Adrian. "Felicity. It's Oliver. Look at me, don't worry about him. He's not going to hurt you anymore." Slowly Felicity turned and looked at Oliver. That was when the tears began to fall. No one had ever came to help her before. "I'm going to put my jacket over you. Is that okay?" He had just draped his jacket over Felicity's body when Elena came running into the bathroom. It took her a moment to take in the sight before her. "Oliver, oh my God." She spoke barely above a whisper as she looked from Adrian to Felicity. "Oliver, is she okay?" She asked with tears in her eyes. He just shook his head, he wasn't really sure just yet. "Go get William. I've got Felicity." Elena shook her head in agreement but first walked over to Adrian who now had his eye's open but wasn't moving. She kneeled down in front of him, leaning close enough so he could easily hear her. With gritted teeth and pointing a finger at him she said "I've not even begun with you yet. What he just did to you will seem like child's play." She pulled back and slapped him across his already swollen eye then turned and walked out of the bathroom. Oliver looked at Felicity, "Felicity, I'm going to pick you up. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you." He slowly slid one arm under her body and the other around her back being careful to keep his jacket on her. As he pulled her up and to his body she took a deep intake of breath. The movement sent a piercing pain to her side. Oliver froze afraid he was hurting her. He looked down into her eyes, she looked so helpless. Felicity leaned her head against his shoulder and griped the front of his tee shirt with her hand. It helped with the pain just having him close to her. He wanted to take his gun out, shove it down Adrian's throat, and pull the trigger but he needed to get Felicity help. He'd deal with Adrian later.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Felicity woke with a gasp, "William...Oliver?" She immediately cried. It was dark, she was disorientated, she had no clue where she was. "Hey...hey....William is fine. He's with El and Matteo."

As her eyes began to focus in the darkness, Felicity clung to the familiar voice in front of her. Without her glasses things were still a bit of a blur. But the timber of Oliver’s voice was crystal clear.

"Oliver...Oliver are you okay? Did he hurt you?" She began running her hands up and down his arms and his chest. It didn't matter that her side and head was on fire with every movement. She had to make sure that Adrian hadn't hurt Oliver, not because of her.

Oliver gently ran his hand across the uninjured side of Felicity's face and with a soft whisper he replied, "I'm fine. I promise." She let out a sigh of relief and then the realization of the pain set in. The breath of relief she had let out once again set her left side on fire. She winced in pain then tried everything in her power not to move, even trying not to breath.

"Broken ribs. Concussion. Doctor said you were lucky.” Judging from the murderous look in Oliver's eyes, Felicity didn’t think he agreed.

“I know you said no hospital. And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you but I didn’t know how bad your injuries were.”

As he had left Felicity and Adrian's home, carrying her in his arms, she had begged him not to take her to the hospital. He hated disappointing her but he knew it was the right decision.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Felicity!!!!!” William screamed in his sleep. “Daddy please help Felicity!!” He continued to scream as Elena ran into her oldest son’s room. “He’s still asleep. I can’t get him to calm down Mom.” Dominic said holding William in his arms. It made Elena angry all over again. “William. William honey. It’s okay. You’re safe. Felicity is safe. Wake up baby.” She gave her eldest son a reassuring smile as she pulled William up into her arms. “Here, I’ve got him.” She lifted him up from the bed just as he woke up. Tears began to stream down his face. “I want to see Felicity.”

Elena carried him from the room, which wasn’t easy. As she stepped into the living room Matteo reached to take him. “Here, I’ve got him. He’s too heavy for you to carry. William buddy. You okay?”

William shook his head no as he replied. “I want to see Felicity.” Matteo sat the little boy down on the couch next to him and Elena took the seat on the other side.

“Felicity’s asleep honey. Your daddy is with her. She’s safe and sound. She just needs a lot of rest right now. You know when you’ve been sick, how it makes you really tired?” Elena asked the little boy. William nodded his head in understanding. “Well, Felicity is really sleepy like that but as soon as she wakes up I know she will be so excited for you to see her.”

William shook his head again as tears welled up in his eyes once more. He didn’t like it but he would do whatever would make Felicity better. Even if it meant being away from her for a little while.

“You want to stay up for a while in here with Uncle Matty and me?”

Matteo nudged William's side. “I bet Aunt El has some super sticky buttery popcorn somewhere in the kitchen she can pop up. How’s that sound?”

She smiled at Matteo, she loved this side of him. Few people ever really got to see it. It was a vast contrast to the powerful, volatile mob boss that the world saw. “If it’s okay, I’d like to go back to bed.”

Matteo smiled. “Whatever you want to do. You want Aunt El to take you back to bed?” He shook his head. “No, I’m fine.” And walked toward his cousin’s room.

They both watched as he disappeared down the hall and heard the door to Dominic’s room close. Matteo broke the silence with an underlying rage. “I want to bury that son of a bitch.”

Elena sighed. “You and me both. But, I personally think he deserves something far worse than death. Something a little more drawn out. Not just a quick verdict. A reckoning. Hey, how about that popcorn?”

Matteo laughed. “Sure. I was almost positive you had a junk food stash somewhere in the pantry. Even after last week’s declaration there would be no more ever in this house again.”

Elena squeezed his hand slightly as she leaned in and kissed him lightly on his lips. He smiled. “What was that for?” Elena shrugged. “For being the man that I’ve always loved.” Then walked out of the living room to the kitchen.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Felicity stared at her broken reflection in the mirror. The bruises had faded somewhat changing to varying shades of yellow. Most of the swelling had gone. Oliver was still being overly cautious, he kept reminding her that she had a concussion and broken ribs and had to take it easy. She wasn’t allowed to lift anything. He insisted on helping her with everything. He tended to hover.

She smiled at the thought. No one had ever been this protective of her, not since she was a child. Especially the way he was being. She was realizing just how good of a man he was. A friend, he was definitely someone she would call a friend. Perhaps her best friend. She’d never had a best friend before. In fact she could count the number of friends she had on one hand.

There was William. Sweet William, her little angel. So much like his daddy. And then there was Elena. El was one of a kind. Which was probably a good thing, the world couldn’t handle more than one Elena Mancini. And then there was Oliver.

Slowly pushing the hospital room's bathroom door open Felicity made her way back to her bed. Oliver was flipping the television channels with the remote control, not really paying attention to what was on. “You’re bored.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Oliver shifted his weight on the couch to look at Felicity. “No, not at all.”

She laughed in reply. “You’re a bad liar…oww.” Felicity held her arm against her side. She’d forgotten about her ribs for a moment.

Oliver was by her side immediately. “Are you okay? Here…sit down.” He motioned toward her bed.

“Oliver, I’m fine. I just forgot not to laugh.” But she let him lead her to the bed anyway.

“Knock, Knock.” Oliver and Felicity both turned to the opening door. A smiling Elena entered the room. “Hey, how you feeling?” Elena tried to hide it but Felicity saw the familiar reaction that everyone had when they saw her appearance.

Matteo and Oliver’s reactions were looks of controlled anger. Elena’s, just as Samantha’s had been, was more of sadness and pain. “I’m fine.” Felicity replied as she sat down with a wince.

Elena popped Oliver with her purse, “You teach her that? I’m fine? I have you know it’s just as annoying when you say it as when Oliver says it. I think he could be missing his right arm and he’d tell you he was fine.”

Oliver gave her a look that undeniably meant knock it off. Elena just rolled her eyes at him. Felicity suppressed a laugh. Their relationship was very different. To an outsider it might appear that Oliver didn’t like Elena but Felicity knew otherwise. Elena irritated him beyond belief at times, but he loved her. She was family.

“So have you two heard the fantabulous news?” Elena asked with a huge grin that would rival the Cheshire cat’s.

“What did you do El?” Oliver asked immediately.

With an obvious display of fawned injury, Elena threw her hands up to her chest. “You hurt me. What on Earth makes you think that I did something?”

“Elena.” Oliver warned his best friend.

“I think it’s probably a good thing I’m already sitting down.” Felicity shook her head which served as a reminder not to do that again.

Elena rolled her eyes, “Oh come on you two. Do you want to know or not?”

Oliver groaned. “If I say not will you leave?” Felicity looked at Oliver as she scooted over and patted at the area next to her on the bed for him to sit down. “It’s probably better if we hear it from her.” Oliver let out a breath and sat down. Felicity was right, damage control was easier if you had a heads up.

“Well I have it on good authority that….as we speak…..” Elena glanced at her watch. “Precisely as we speak, Adrian is being booked on charges of domestic violence, aggravated assault, and attempted murder. Also child endangerment. He has also been suspended without pay. Seems the mayor himself saw to it that the DA filed charges.”

“What? I don’t understand…how?” Felicity asked in confusion. Although Starling City was a small town and gossip spread like a wildfire as in any other small town. Oliver and Matteo carried some pretty big weight in the town. If they needed something off limits or to be kept in the dark, it happened.

Felicity hadn’t been ready to talk about what had happened. She wasn’t ready to answer questions, to deal with all that would come from accusing one of SCPD's own detectives of…well of what he had done. And because Felicity had begged that she couldn’t do it, that she wasn’t ready. A very reluctant Oliver backed her decision.

So, outside of the Mancini personal physician and the nursing staff in the private wing of Starling General, no one else knew about that night.

“Guess a little birdy told him.” Elena shrugged. “And perhaps the mayor owed this particular little birdy a huge debt. This is good news Felicity.” She reached forward placing her hand on Felicity’s leg.

Felicity lowered her head and let out a deep breath. “Come on Fel. Don’t tell me you feel anything more than hatred for him? I mean he’s my cousin and my concern for his well being ended the night he laid his hands on you.”

Felicity raised her head to look at Elena with tears in her eyes. “Huh uh, Felicity…stop that. You can’t feel sorry for him.”

Oliver looked at Felicity’s face. It broke his heart, the pain he saw written all over it. Not only because she was in pain but because she still loved Adrian. Even after he had hurt her so badly.

Still looking at Felicity he spoke quietly to Elena. “That’s enough El. Felicity needs to rest. Come back later.” Felicity turned to look at Oliver, her eyes locked with his. She felt this unexplainable strength whenever he looked at her.

Felicity knew Elena had left, she’d heard the sound of the door closing but she didn’t actually hear her goodbyes. Her eyes were still locked on Oliver’s. They were clouded with sadness. He gently reached out his hand and wiped a tear away from her cheek. “You still love him.”

Felicity couldn’t understand why his voice sounded so sad. Shaking her head in disagreement she replied. “No. It stopped being about loving him a long time ago. If it ever was about loving him at all.” He didn’t understand. “But when Elena…you looked sad about Adrian.”

Felicity’s eyes filled with tears again. He thought maybe she was in denial about her feelings. “About what is happening to Adrian? It doesn’t hurt me at least not for me.”

She could tell Oliver wasn’t following her. “William.” She said, her voice breaking even just mentioning his name. “I don’t want William to be hurt anymore than he already has been. He loves Adrian. Good, bad, wrong, right. He does.” Felicity’s body shook lightly.

“Oliver, I need to tell you something. I have to make sure you understand.” A strand of her hair fell across her face, without thinking Oliver reached out his hand and swept it behind her ear. Tears began to stream down her face

“He has never…never, laid a hand on William. I never would have let him. You have to believe me. I love him more than life its self. If Adrian had ever tried…” Her voice broke, she couldn’t finish what she had wanted to say.

Oliver cautiously wrapped an arm around Felicity. She slowly sank her body against his. “I promise you he will never hurt you or our son ever again.” He spoke with an odd mixture of coldness and warmth.

The sound of Oliver's voice comforted Felicity. There was a peace between the two of them that Felicity had never felt before. For the first time in her life she felt safe.

Tucked into Oliver's side, listening to the steady sound of his breathing, Felicity fell into a restful sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a little bit lighter chapter. Oliver and Felicity are really beginning to forge a bond 😍

Chapter Six

Felicity sat cross legged on the floor in front of the couch as William continued to re-enact his entire two weeks worth of school back to her. He had spent the first week with Elena and Matteo just across the hall and the second with Samantha. It took Oliver, Felicity, and Samantha to convince him it was okay to go to his mom’s. He didn’t want to be so far away from Felicity. Samantha promised him he could call Felicity every day until she was well enough for her to leave the hospital and for him to stay at the penthouse. 

“And then Marcus slid at least 500 feet across the cafeteria floor.” He had a look of awe on his face. “Who knew mashed potatoes could be so slippery.” William added with a slight shrug. 

“Is that it? What about that English test in Ms. Coker’s class?” 

With definite pride he responded. “Aced it! Dom helped me study while you were getting better.” Suddenly his lightheartedness was replaced with sadness.

Pulling herself up off of the floor, the sharp pains in her side had become more subdued. “Hey look at the time little man. You are way past your bed time. You better make like a banana and split.” It was cheesy and silly but it received the reaction she was expecting. 

Giggly laughter from the pit of his stomach. “Oh Felicity!” She smiled warmly. She had never noticed before now, when William laughed his piercing blue eyes lightened a few shades just as his daddy’s did. 

“Okay, bath and bed time, young man.” She nudged him towards the stairs. “Yell when you are in bed and I’ll be up to read to you okay?” 

William made it to the bottom step and turned to look back at Felicity. “If Daddy is home by then can both of you read to me?” Felicity glanced at the clock on the fire place mantle. “We’ll see if he’s back by then, okay buddy.” 

“Home.” Felicity thought with a sigh. This did feel like home to her. From the moment she arrived at Oliver’s penthouse it just felt like she belonged there. It had been Oliver who first insisted she stay there. He explained how much better it would be to have friends surrounding her as she recovered. William would want to be near her, he had added. 

Elena had all but demanded that Felicity stay either with her or Oliver “Take your pick chica, cause none of us are letting you out of our sights. And if Adrian or any of his detective buddies even think about trying anything, we'll need the guys close by to keep me from committing homicide!!” Elena had said with a dead serious look between Matteo and Oliver. Although Felicity was pretty sure if given the chance, both guys would love to “get rid of” Adrian on their own. 

As William ran up the stairs Felicity sighed looking around the room. Every inch of this place made her think of Oliver. Reserved, calm, and also warm. She had seen so much warmth from him in the last couple of weeks. Samantha told her she had honestly never seen Oliver like this with anyone except for his sister. 

“I think the two of you are good for each other.” She had said. She also promised that Adrian would never be near William again. The custody arrangement was only legally between her and Oliver. They only allowed Adrian to have visitations because he had helped her raise William in the beginning. “To hell with his feelings.” Was Samantha’s exact words.

Adrian was still in jail, the judge had refused bail. In the back of Felicity’s mind she was sure that Elena or Matteo or maybe even both had something to do with that. She wasn’t sure how strong the case would actually be. 

While Felicity had went to the hospital, she had not reported the incident herself. The cops had not collected evidence. The medical attention she had received was from the Mancini family's personal physician Dr. Drake Mason and his staff. Dr. Mason, was married to Matteo’s second cousin. 

“All in the family.” She thought to herself. Half the town thought the mafia was taking down a well loved Starling City born detective. The other half was either family or somehow employed by the Mancini Empire. She had a feeling, even with the lack of physical evidence, the latter side of the town was going to come out on top. She had never realized the pull his family had before now. Oliver’s lawyer, Ms. Spencer had assured Felicity that she would never actually have to appear in court. The D.A. that was handling the case was her best friend. Who also just happened to be married to Matteo's Uncle. Ms. Spencer additionally assured Felicity that she was “just that good!”

Felicity began scooping the legos from the coffee table into a plastic tub. The door opened suddenly startling her. “Sorry I didn’t mean to…..” She smiled, shaking her head. “You didn’t scare me Oliver. It was just so quiet in here. It startled me is all.” 

Closing the door and glancing up the stairs Oliver laughed. “If it’s quiet he’s either up to something or asleep.” 

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Neither, oh suspicious one. He’s taking a bath. And then we all have a date with a book.” She added with a smile. 

Shrugging off his brown leather jacket, Oliver motioned towards the mess Felicity was busy cleaning up. “So now who’s wrapped around a little finger?” 

“Picking up a few toys is not being wrapped around someone’s finger. Giving in and letting a ten year old stay up until after midnight to watch the latest Fast and the Furious movie…..now that’s being wrapped around someone’s tiny little finger.” Felicity couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face. 

“It was the new one.” Oliver replied with a slightly grumpy sounding voice as he grabbed a beer from the small fridge next to the stairs. “You want one?” He asked gesturing towards Felicity. 

Shaking her head no she let out a small laugh as she took a few steps towards him. “Sorry, I’m just teasing you.” 

She had known that Oliver wanted to see the movie too, maybe even more than William. Felicity had to hold her laughter in as she watched the movie with the two of them. She swore that as Oliver watched some of the scenes he was mentally correcting the way it would have actually played out in real life. William just squealed at all the explosions and car chases. 

Kneeling in front of Felicity he asked, “So….how are you feeling?” Oliver asked brushing a stray strand of hair from Felicity’s face. As his finger lightly grazed across her forehead and the edge of her ear it left behind a warm tingly sensation. Whenever he was this closed Felicity had a hard time thinking. He was close, close enough that she could feel his warm breath wash over her face. Suddenly her mouth felt very dry.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew he had asked her a question but all she could concentrate on was his lips. “Huh?” Felicity asked a tad bit too breathlessly.

It was like a magnet to metal, Oliver felt himself being drawn closer to Felicity. He hadn’t felt this way in…“ever” he thought to himself. Leaning closer he involuntarily licked his lips. “Her lips look soft.” He thought. 

“Frack, I think…I think he’s…he’s going to kiss me…Oliver…OLIVER is going to kiss ME!!” Her thoughts rambled excitedly. She could almost see her inner self doing a back flip or a cartwheel. This was a feeling that was very foreign to her. 

“3….2….1. Breath…breath, Fel.” She had to remind herself, as she leaned into Oliver. 

“Door.” Felicity heard him say, bringing her back to reality. 

“Huh…what?” She asked, blinking to clear the fog from her mind. “Someone’s knocking.” Oliver replied, his lips lightly grazing her own as he spoke. “Frackity frack frack.” Felicity's thoughts screamed in frustration. 

She wasn’t sure she was in a place to cross that invisible line with Oliver but it was nice, even if just for a nano second, to let go. To just…feel again. And then she heard it, loud knocking followed by, “SCPD…We have a search warrant for the premises. Open up Queen.” The voice she recognized.

Still staring into her eyes, Oliver knew he only had a few moments more before Detective Russo would break through the door. Slipping his hand behind her head and weaving his fingers into her hair, Oliver brought his lips completely to Felicity’s. It was a soft, gentle kiss. 

Kissing Oliver, it felt…“natural” she thought. Oddly it also felt, it felt like coming home. Like this was the place she had always been meant to be. 

At some point, and she didn’t know when, they had both stood. Stretching on her tip toes, Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck. Oliver brought his free arm around her waist and pulled her against his body. A small gasp escaped her lips at the pressure. Pulling back, Oliver looked at Felicity, his face was full of worry. “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” 

Felicity worked to control her breathing. “I’m…I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me. Just a little tender is all.” 

Oliver leaned his forehead against her own. Again, the knocking came at the door. “Guess I should get that.” 

“Damn cops.” Felicity replied with a small laugh. For the first time in a very long time she was not afraid.

Oliver stepped around Felicity to answer the door as she ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it out.

Opening the door to his penthouse, Sebastian immediately walked through, not bothering to be invited in. He handed Oliver a folded white piece of paper as he spoke. “First, search warrant. Second you know anything about a suspicious fire over off of Sycamore? Where were you tonight around 8:00 p.m. tonight by the way?” But it wasn’t Oliver who replied, it was instead Felicity. “Oliver has been here all night Sebastian.”

The detective looked in shock to see Adrian’s soon to be ex wife at the Mancinis' enforcers home. But it explained how his partner and best friend had been obviously framed and railroaded for a domestic violence case and some trumped up charge of assault. She must have been playing house with Queen behind her husband’s back all along. 

“Well, well Mrs. Chase.” Sebastian spoke walking further into the penthouse. Glancing back he ordered the officers just outside the door to search every inch of the place. Turning back towards Felicity he continued. “So were you whoring yourself out to Queen before you fucked Adrian’s life over or did you graciously wait until after the dirty work was done?”

Felicity watched Oliver's whole demeanor change. His eyes darkened, the color reminded her of the ocean just as a hurricane is approaching land. His jaw was clenched so tightly you could see the veins bulging in his neck, you could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. What a fearsome sight it must be to have that kind of rage directed solely at one’s self. “Do not! Speak to Felicity that way.” He managed to grind out. 

Felicity moved around Sebastian to stand in front of Oliver. She placed the palm of her hand over his chest. She could feel the rapid beating of his heart. “Oliver.” She calmly whispered as he continued to glare at the detective. “Hey.” Felicity softly spoke once more. This time she had gained his attention. Looking down he saw her soft eyes staring up at him. “It’s okay Oliver.” Slowly she watched as the storm of anger in his eyes began to slip away. Replacing it was the gentleness Felicity always saw when Oliver would look at her and his son. “He can’t hurt me.” She reassured him that she was safe as long as she was with him, nothing could hurt her.

“So it would appear the killer has a heart after all.” Sebastian spoke once more, his voice full of sarcasm.

“Do NOT talk about Oliver like that!” Felicity yelled as she tried to lunge towards Detective Russo but Oliver caught her, wrapping his arm around her waist. She was tougher than she looked. He knew it must be painful, pushing and shoving against his arm to get to the detective but she never even flinched. Pulling Felicity against his body, Oliver whispered in her ear. “Fel…it’s okay.”

An officer then emerged from the kitchen. “The place is clean. There’s nothing down here.” Sebastian looked over at the officer with a frustrated groan. “Then start searching upstairs. The search warrant covers more than this level.” 

Felicity shook her head. “Sebastian, William is up there. All these officers will scare him. Let me go up there and get him first.” 

The detective laughed. “And allow you to destroy any incriminating evidence. I think not. If you were so worried about his well being then maybe you should have thought about him staying here in the first place.” 

Gritting her teeth Felicity spat back. “HE!” She spoke gesturing back at Oliver. “Is his father Sebastian. He’d never hurt him. We are both finally safe, and it’s because we are here.” 

The detective looked up at Oliver. “People get hurt around him. At some point everyone around him gets hurt. Better watch out or you just might wind up like his sister.

Oliver let his grip go of Felicity and moved around her despite how much she tried to hold on to and pull him back. “Oliver!” She yelled as she tugged on his arm.

Just then William came running down the stairs. This stopped Oliver completely in his tracks. “Daddy, are you okay?” The little boy asked now wearing his favorite race car pajamas. His hair was still damp, sticking up in little spikes here and there. “Yeah buddy, I’m fine.” And as quick as that, Felicity’s Oliver was back.

“Hey there little buddy.” Detective Russo spoke now directing his attention on Oliver’s son. “So did your daddy help you take a bath earlier. “No.” He replied matter of factly. 

“Oh you pompous self righteous jerk!” Felicity screamed inside. He was going to use William. 

“Really!” Sebastian replied with feigned shock looking up at both William and Felicity. 

“No, I’m a big boy, I can take my own bath by myself!” He announced very proudly. “But he helped me build a lego race track and we ate a supreme pizza and had huge milkshakes together.” The little boy made sure to emphasize the “And” part. The little bugger was knowingly blackmailing his daddy. Felicity had to work very hard to hold in her laughter. 

“Tonight?” Sebastian pushed further.

“Uh-huh.” William replied with a nod. 

“You and your dad did that, tonight?” Sebastian asked sounding defeated. 

“You already said tonight, and yup. And Felicity too.” He added with a smile.

Just as he stood the officers began making their way back down the penthouse stairs. “Completely clean boss.” 

Sebastian spoke to both Oliver and Felicity as he moved through the door that Felicity was now holding open, making it clear that the self righteous jack ass could leave now. “You got lucky this time Queen. We will see about the next time.” 

With a smirk Felicity replied. “Have a wonderful day detective.” As she slammed the door directly in his face.

“So now I guess you’re building a lego race track.” Felicity laughed turning to look over at Oliver. “And were eating a giant supreme pizza and huge milkshakes.” She added as William giggled as he grabbed the lego bucket from under the coffee table. 

“I’m not suppose to lie, remember daddy.” He smiled with his blue eyes shining. 

“Dump them out you little hustler.” Oliver laughed as he sat down on the floor next to the coffee table. “And I’ll go preheat the oven.” Felicity added. 

She was met with a chorus of “No’s.” “Ha ha, very funny. You’re both so adorable.” 

Oliver jumped up from the floor. “It’s okay. I’ve got it Fel. You start on the race track. I’ll be right back.” As he made his way through the kitchen doorway he stopped and looked back at Felicity and his son looking for the perfect lego. A light smile crossed his face. For the first time in a very long time, Oliver felt at peace.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I know Matteo is generally on the peripheral of the story, sort of floating in and out of it. But I'm kinda having a mental affair with him lol
> 
> The inspiration for Matteo is Will Brandt. If you don't know him look him up on Instagram. He is my love.
> 
> Link to his profile https://instagram.com/willbrandt?igshid=nqk2e1mh2u1s

Chapter Seven

“God El….I love you…but sometimes you drive me crazy. It’s just a couple days a week. That’s all I’m asking.” Felicity hated the fact that there was a tone of begging in her voice. But she needed this. Needed some normalcy to return to her life. She absentmindedly fiddled with her glasses on her face, something she subconsciously did when she was frustrated.

“You know he’s never going to let you.” Elena pointed out the obvious.

Felicity worked to control the boiling in her blood. “It’s not up to Oliver to LET me do anything. He can not agree or he can feel uneasy about it, but letting isn’t going to come into the conversation.”

“Yeah, how about you let me know how that goes. Fel, he cares about you. If you haven’t figured it out yet, if Oliver cares about someone, he holds on real tight. He’s lost too many people he has loved in his life.” A sound of sadness took over Elena’s voice.

“What happened with his sister? Is…is it true?”

Elena sighed, “You mean was it because of Oliver?”

Felicity nodded. She had been thinking about Thea for the last couple of days. All she really knew about her was that she was beautiful, she was about to marry the love of her life just before she was murdered, and Oliver adored her.

“I really can’t say. Of course, whether he is or isn’t, he has taken it solely upon his shoulders. Always does when it’s someone he loves. It’s one of the things I love about him, while at the same time it makes me want to smack him upside the head and tell him to let someone else be superman for a while.” Elena laughed lightly, the smile on her face didn’t completely reach her eyes.

“Where you close to Thea also.” Felicity asked curiously, seeing the sadness in her friend’s eyes.

“Oh, God no. We couldn’t stand each other, well except for where Oliver was concerned.”

Felicity looked at her in surprise.

“We both loved Oliver and wanted him to be happy. And staying away from the Queen family was what he wanted. Me And Thea, we were the only ones that understood and excepted it. We didn’t push him. Thea never pushed after the accident and I never pushed him in any direction once we became friends long after the car wreck.”

Seeing the added confusion in her eyes, Elena added. “But that’s another story entirely. Guess you didn’t know about the wreck. I’ll tell you some other time. But where was I….oh yeah….the reason me and Thea didn’t get along.”

Felicity scooted her feet up underneath herself to get more comfortable, somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if Oliver would want her talking to his best friend about his personal life. But there were so many mysteries that floated around him. And mysteries nagged at Felicity. She always felt this uncontrollable urge to solve them. “Just call me Nancy Frackin Drew!!”

“See once upon a time as they say, a girl fell in love with the wrong Queen. Well at least she thought she had fallen in love with him.” Elena paused a moment before continuing.

“But see she didn’t realize at the time that he was an abusive alcoholic that would treat her like a punching bag whenever he had way too much whiskey in his system.”

Elena paused again, she knew this would be hard for Felicity to hear. Her now barely noticeable wounds being so raw and fresh. Elena knew all too well that it was the emotional bruises that were the most painful and stayed with you the longest.

Tears sprang to her eyes as a lump formed in Felicity’s throat. She never knew this about her best friend.

Elena slowly continued. “See, I was new to town. I came here all those years ago with no family, no friends, no connections. I had been on my own since I was 14. I came to Starling to re-invent my self you could say. But sometimes no matter how hard you try, the past is always there. Sometimes, on the inside, you are always that little girl your parents didn’t want and never loved. So one night I went looking for some way to drown my pain. I wound up at Verdant. And across the room was….well across the room was my future nightmare.”

Elena sighed once more. “Anyway long story short. I thought I loved that boy and that he would change. That I could make him better, and then I wound up pregnant only I was scared to death to have my child with him. So I went to the only other person I knew in the town that would understand how he could be and wouldn’t judge me, his brother.”

Felicity shook her head, “Wait…I’m confused. Who was the guy and who is his brother? And what does all of this have to do with Thea?”

Elena turned to look at a framed picture above the fireplace. It was a photo of Oliver holding Dom when he was just a baby.

“The guy was Tommy Queen and his brother was Oliver.” Elena turned her attention back to the now wide eyed blonde next to her.

“The reason Oliver is the Oliver we now know is because of his brother Tommy, he was a drunk way back then too. He only moved on to the abusiveness when he met me. Anyway, I went to Oliver and just laid it all out there. He didn’t know me from Adam, he didn’t associate with the rest of the family. But he felt sorry for me, he always said he felt responsible for his brother because he never tried to stop him from self destructing after the accident.”

Felicity felt an ache in her heart, of course he’d feel responsible. She could already tell he had a need to try to fix everything around him. Take on other’s pain. Definitely not the image that most others would have seen of him.

“I asked Oliver to lie. To lie and say that Dominic was his and not Tommy’s. Just so I could get out, get away from him. Not that I wanted Oliver. I just needed an out and then I would run away. He did one better, surprised the hell out of me.” Elena laughed. “He asked me to move in with him, we could raise the baby together. He could protect us, protect me from his brother.”

Felicity looked up in shock. So much was now floating around in her head all jumbled up. Thea’s death, an accident that some how altered Oliver in some way, and apparently Oliver was at one time going to be Dominic’s ‘father’.

“I know it’s a lot to take in but I promise I’m getting to the point. I swear I think I’ve lived a thousand soap operas since I came to Starling City.” Elena laughed.

“So Oliver was going to be my knight in shining armor, this complete stranger was going to do something no one else I knew would have done, protect me. And it would have worked, except for Thea that is. See while I was staying with Oliver I meet a certain dark haired, dark eyed, dimple toting man across the hall. I feel in love, in love for real this time. Oliver was happy for me, for us. He saw how much we loved each other and by that point me and Oliver had became the best of friends. So he was going to ‘allow’ Matty to adopt his ‘son’. But then Thea found out and….she told Tommy that my unborn child was really his.”

“But you have Dominic…you and Matteo have custody of him?” Felicity was so lost, she never even realized that he wasn’t actually Matteo’s son.

“Matty and I got married right before Dominic was born, we knew we were in love and didn’t want to wait and plus as a married couple it would be easier to fight for custody. Oliver sided with us. He went on record about Tommy’s past with alcohol, against the Queen family's wishes. And of course, Matteo has a lot of pull in the legal system. So we gained full custody of our son. Thea never forgave me for taking Dom away from her brother. Oliver was able to forgive her eventually for telling that he wasn’t the real father, she was his sister and he loved her after all.”

Felicity shook her head in anger, Oliver’s sister or not, how could she be okay with an abusive jerk raising a newborn. “But he abused you? He was be….”

Elena cut her off mid sentence as she laid her hand across Felicity’s leg. “She didn’t know, I never told anyone but Oliver and of course Matty. I was ashamed at the time, ashamed that I had willingly stayed with him for so long. I blamed myself at first. If I could have been more patient, or more giving, or less confrontational. It took me along time to realize I was not the fucked up one. Tommy was.” Elena laughed quietly, “I guess that long story short actually turned out to be just a long story.”

“El…I…I had no idea.” Felicity quietly replied still in shock.

“And neither did I Fel. If only I had seen the signs. If I would have known.”

Felicity trembled slightly.

Scooting closer Elena pulled Felicity into her side. “I would have killed his sorry ass.”

Felicity laughed as tears streamed down her face. Only Elena could take a sweet sentimental moment and turn it into a death threat and it seem perfectly normal.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

“Adrian….please!” Felicity cried out as her husband twisted her arm further. She was waiting for the popping sound it would inevitably make. She knew an arm couldn’t twist that far without it happening.

“You had one thing to do.” Adrian shook her violently. “One! And you can’t even get that right. You are such a fuck up!” Felicity screamed out as the burning, ripping sensation spread across her shoulder.

She closed her eyes trying to absorb the pain. She never saw the punch coming to her cheek.

Felicity’s eyes flew open. She was disoriented. Instinctively she pushed herself up. Suddenly she felt something touch her shoulder. Felicity flinched away with another scream.

Oliver pulled his outstretched hand away. “Felicity it’s me. You’re okay.”

She closed her eyes trying to steady her breathing. After a moment she opened them again.

“Oliver.” Felicity reached out for him. He pulled her into his arms, holding her as she cried. It had just been a nightmare. But it felt so real. She could feel Adrian's fingers digging into her arm, the burning twisting sensation in her shoulder.

Felicity had been screaming so loudly that Oliver had heard her across the hall in his room.

“Hey, you’re okay. I got you, you’re safe.” He added as she held on even tighter.

Felicity wasn’t quite sure how long she had clung to Oliver letting out deep cathartic sobs. Slowly dislodging herself from his embrace, Felicity looked up into blue eyes shaded with concern. “I’m sorry.” She whispered softly.

“Never, ever apologize for needing someone. For needing me. Felicity I will always be here for you.”

There was such an intense sincerity radiating off of him that suddenly Felicity felt a little overwhelmed. Clearing her now scratchy voice, she pushed back slightly then fell into a crisscrossed seated position on the edge of her bed. She began to pick at a now very interesting loose thread on her bedspread.

Oliver slowly sank onto the bed beside of Felicity. He could feel the awkwardness floating between them.

“Do I remind you of her?” She asked suddenly, swiveling to look at Oliver. The question caught him off guard.

“I mean, I know we really aren’t anything alike. I mean I’m much more meek, is meek the right word? I mean it seems like the right word when comparing me,” Felicity gestured toward herself then waved her hand around towards no one in particular. “And Elena. Because, let’s face it Elena can be very whirlwindy…grrrr at times.” Felicity made a cat clawing motion with her hands. “She really can make me look like the cowardly lion compared to her. But that’s not what I was meaning.” She paused for a moment. “Wait, what was I meaning?”

With a light chuckle he replied, “I’m not really sure. Sometimes it's honestly hard for me to keep up.” Oliver quickly added, “But I like that.” when a flash of disappointment crossed her face.

A nearly inaudible “Oh.” Escaped her lips.

After a moment Felicity regained her train of thought. “Oh, yes. Do I remind you of Elena? The Elena you meet all those years ago. The Elena you rescued and protected?”

Absentmindedly Oliver tucked a fallen strand of hair behind her ear. It was a habit Felicity noticed forming. It made her smile.

“I guess in some ways yes, although I hadn’t really thought about it. But in many other ways, no.”

Felicity knew that there were blaring differences between El and herself. Elena was tall, curvy, dark, and beautiful. She was also tough as nails. Felicity would never bet against that hurricane of a woman. But she never expected what Oliver would say next.

“Elena is tough on the exterior, but on the inside.” He paused for a moment, lost in thought. No doubt a thousand memories floating in his mind. “On the inside, she’s still that scared little girl that her parents abandoned when she was just 14. That’s why she lashes out, it’s a preemptive strike. She hits before she can be hit first. And you’d be surprised to know, she has a harder time standing on her own than you would think.”

Felicity was already shaking her head in disagreement. “Oh don’t get me wrong. That woman will fight to the death for you if she loves you. But she will be terrified the entire time. If it hadn’t been for me and Matteo, she would have broken.”

“Elena needs Matteo's strength and stability. And my conscience. She calls me her anchor, I guess you could say I ground her.” A faint smile spread across his face, lighting his eyes. “El drives me insane half the time but I love her all the more for it.”

Felicity couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face as well. She got it, Elena had the same effect on her. She made Felicity lighter, she breathed a breath of fresh air into her life. Even though there were times she wanted to pull her hair out with her.

Hesitantly Oliver slide his hand into Felicity's, “You on the other hand, you have a self awareness that Elena is lacking. Courage bubbling just beneath the surface. You don’t need someone to stand in front of you, beside you yes. An equal.” He paused as if searching for the right words. “A partner. A…” But before he could finish what he was about to say they both heard the faint sound of knocking drifting up the stairs.

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Felicity leaned on the counter in front of the coffee pot waiting for it to finish brewing. She could just hear Matteo and Oliver's muffled voices coming from the other room. They were discussing shipments, warehouses, and basic day to day operations. Without a word she had quietly excused herself to the kitchen to set up the coffee.

Standing up straight Felicity yelled to the other room, “How do you take your coffee Matteo?” “Black is fine. And call me Matty.” He reminded her once again.

As she was pulling three mugs from the upper cabinet nearest the sink Felicity's cell lit up as the theme from Game of Thrones played. Felicity smiled looking at the phone screen.

The gruff voice on the other end of the line warmed her heart. “How’s my little peanut?”

“I’m good Uncle Hank.”

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

“As long as everyone plays their part, everything should go smoothly. Murdoch is sitting this one out? We don’t want a repeat of….” Matteo's voice trailed off as Felicity made her way back into the living room.

Thank yous were exchanged as the two men retrieved their mugs. Felicity turned to leave when Oliver touched her arm, “Stay?” He quietly asked.

Looking in Matteo's direction for confirmation to indeed stay; Oliver’s employer, best friend, sudo brother nodded in agreement. “We were just finishing up. Please stay. Actually El wanted me to let you know Dom and Morgan will be ready to go in about 30 minutes. So I’d say in Elena Time that means…” Felicity finished his sentence with a chuckle “She'll be over here in an hour.”

“Exactly.”

“William is so excited to go on his first big boy sleepover. Matty, you think your dad can handle the three of them?” Felicity wondered to herself what shenanigans those boys would get into with Matteo's father Mike out at his lake house. “Shenanigans, where did that come from? Who says shenanigans? I mean besides me, of course because…hello I just said it. But who else besides 60 year old grannies use words like shena….”

Felicity’s voice trailed off when she realized her mental ramblings had indeed been spoken out loud. The light laughter that escaped from Oliver was all the proof she needed. His smile revealed a deep dimple in his left cheek.

Felicity just knew that her face was currently turning several varying shade of red. Thankfully her uber embarrassing moment, as she liked to call moments like these, was literally saved by the bell. “Well, ringing if you want to get technical.” She thought.

Oliver with a slight shake of his head and a smile on his face answered his cell. “Queen.” Short and simple, straight to the point.

Felicity tried to look anywhere but at Oliver's employer slash best friend. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. We are family Felicity.” Matteo said reassuringly. “Besides, have you ever heard El when she gets started?” A broad smile stretched across his face. The love that man had for that woman rolled off of him in waves at that very moment. “Besides, it’s an adorable quality.” He winked with a crooked smile.

Felicity could see what drew Elena to this man. While he was indeed the feared leader of one of the most infamous crime families, she could see the loving playful side in him that no doubt attracted her friend.

“See you in a few.” Oliver replied to whoever was on the other end of his cell as he ended the call. “Matty, can El drop the boys off at your dad's?”

“Yeah, not a problem. What’s up? Leo?” Matteo quickly shifted to business mode.

“No, nothing like that. It’s Ava.” Oliver glanced in Felicity’s direction.

She was lost, she had no clue who Ava was. “Am I suppose to know her?” She thought to her self. Mentally running through all the names and faces she had encountered these last few weeks, Felicity drew a blank.

“Ava Spencer, our lawyer.” Oliver answered her unasked question. The confusion must have been evident on Felicity's face. “She wants the both of us to meet her at her office first thing this morning.”

“Did…did she say why?” Felicity asked nervously. She adjusted her glasses subconsciously.

“No. But usually if Ava wants me to come in short notice, it isn’t good.” Oliver reached out placing a hand over Felicity's. “It will be alright. I promise.”

Felicity really was trying to stay positive but that self doubting nagging ninny that had took up residence inside of her all those years ago when she was sent to live with her Uncle Hank wouldn’t shut up. Losing her parents at such an early age had shaped her into the person she was today. She was always expecting the worst. And right now that inner voice was screaming ‘red alert’ with a glittery bullhorn.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Felicity paced back and worth inside the Mancini family attorney's office. Subconsciously she scratched at her arm out of nervousness. She could hear her Uncle's gravely voice floating from her childhood, “You’re gonna wear a hole in the floor peanut.” 

The memory of his easiness and patience as he dealt with a heartbroken terrified little Felicity made her smile. Uncle Hank had such a tough and rough exterior, “Half of Chicago was terrified of him.” She thought as a snort of laughter escaped her. If only that half saw him braid her piggy tails, playing hopscotch in their tiny backyard just to make her laugh, or hold her tiny self as sobs racked her little frame. But this was not the Hank the outside world saw. They saw the borderline corrupt, volatile man he could sometimes be. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Oliver. The similarities were blaring.

It was the reason Felicity never reached out to her uncle, she knew what would happen to Adrian and at the time it had made perfectly clear sense to her. Losing his father would have wrecked William. But she had not know Oliver at that time.

Oliver quietly watched Felicity pace across the floor. He knew she was nervous. He could faintly hear her ramblings under her breath. Most were more than likely suppose to stay inside her head. That thought made him smile. And then suddenly she had stopped dead in her tracks to look at him. Her eyes were wide for a split second, then a look of recognition had taken it's place along with a slight smile. 

Oliver smiled back reassuringly. Reaching out he slipped his hand into Felicity's. She slowly sank into the chair next to him. He continued to hold her hand, his thumb drawing soothing small circles on the back of her hand. Felicity wondered if he even realized he was doing it. 

The door to their left suddenly opened, Oliver’s hand tightened slightly. He interlocked their fingers. They were facing whatever this meeting was about together.

 

Adrian stepped into the visitors room of SPCD lock up. His petition to be allowed minimal visitations had recently been granted. This was his second meeting with his current visitor.

Sinking into the cold hard plastic chair opposite of his friend and fellow police officer he asked, “What was her reaction? Did it hurt her, rip her heart out just as that bitch did mine? And what about Queen? Did it wipe that smug ass look on his face? That bastard took my best friend, my wives, my son, and he’s trying to take my life away from me. He will pay this time.” Adrian was seething. 

Sebastian just smiled in return. Any form of friendship that he had in the past with Felicity was now nonexistent. He wanted to make her pay for blowing up his partners life just as badly as Adrian did.

“Their lawyer called them in first thing this morning. Notified them of your petition. Felicity looked a little shell-shocked as they left. Queen, well I’d say you successfully got under his skin. Any move he or Mancini makes, they will be the obvious suspects. We did it Adrian, we are finally going to take those thugs down.”

Adrian leaned back against his seat. A satisfactory smile plastered on his face. 

 

Felicity fiddled with the dials on the car stereo. Oliver was pretty sure she didn’t even really hear what was playing as she flipped through the stations. In frustration she turned the stereo off all together.

“Fel, you heard Ava. This is a baseless motion. The judge has no choice than to dismiss his case. He has no standing, no claim. It won’t work.”

“Oliver, he’s trying to take William away from you and all because of me. I think…I think it would be better if I move out. If I leave he has no ammunition..” Felicity didn’t have a chance to finish her statement. She was met by a thunderous “No!!”

“You are not going anywhere Felicity.” Oliver slide his hand over Felicity's own hand that was resting on the center console. He intertwined their fingers and began rubbing gentle circles over her knuckles. When she finally looked him in the eyes there was something there she had never seen before. Without a doubt Felicity knew there were only a select few that had been on the receiving end of that look. The light, relaxed, easy Oliver she had come to know was no where in sight. Instead there was a coldness, a darkness she had never seen. 

“He will not win.” The murderous undercurrent to his simple statement spoke volumes. It was Felicity's first face to face encounter with the enforcer the outside world judged him as. And where most would fear this man in this moment, Felicity felt an odd sense of comfort. She knew that no matter what she was safe with this beautifully imperfectly complicated man. 

After a moment his features began to relax once more. The lightness in his eyes returned. Felicity's Oliver returned.

 

Just as Oliver pulled into his reserved space in the penthouse parking garage, his cell rang.

“Queen.” He voiced his standard, straight to the point simple greeting.

There was a pause, Oliver was listening intently to the other end of the conversation. “Give me five.” Was his only reply as he disconnected the call.

Felicity watched as his hand holding the steering wheel of his suv clenched tightly. His knuckles changing varying shades of pink, red, then white. She was a little afraid he might actually snap the wheel in half. “If that’s even possible.” She added a footnote to her thought to Google later if in fact a human being could snap a car steering wheel in half by hand. “Now is so not the right time.”

And just as quickly as Oliver had shifted to some sort of inner turmoil, he shifted back. Relaxing his grip, he turned to Felicity with a half smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Matty needs to see me. I want you to come with me.”

“Oliver, I think Matteo just wants to meet with you.” She replied, concerned that his boss would see her involvement as unwanted, an intrusion.

He reached out lightly tracing Felicity's jawline with the calloused padding of his thumb. The gentleness in stark contrast to the roughness of his skin. “Felicity, you are my family.” And that was it. A simple statement that spoke volumes. 

Felicity's eyes watered lightly. The conviction behind his words were staggering. With that simple phrase spoken, she knew there was no bounds to what Oliver would do to protect his family. To protect Felicity.

 

Son of a bitch, piece of shit. Who the hell does he think he is? You wait til I get a hold of him. Ho intenzione di spingere questo Jimmy Choo così lontano nel culo che avrà bisogno di un escavatore per recuperarlo. Non me ne frega un cazzo se è famiglia.” 

Oliver and Felicity could both hear Elena's irate voice from the other side of her penthouse door. 

“Shit.” Oliver pushed open the door to find Elena pacing back and forth while Matteo stood off to the side swiping a hand across his face in frustration. Still a slight smile was on his face. He knew this Elena all too well.

“El.” Was all Oliver said as they entered the room.

Elena turned toward the two of them. Her eyes were red rimmed from the tears she had shed and she was angry. “Nope, scratch that. She is nuclear disaster about to wipe out a small village angry.” Felicity thought.

“I will kill that son of a bitch Oliver. You will not back me down.”

“I know. You just can’t El. You have to think. Think of the consequences. The repercussions. It will blow back on you, us…immediately.” Oliver reasoned with her. Turning to Matty he asked, “How bad?”

Matteo had sank into one of the high back chairs, jacket removed and top two buttons of his shirt now opened. He looked tired. “Locked up all of the legitimate accounts. Offshore is safe. We are good for now.” 

The “for now” hung in the air. They were good, but the situation would have to be dealt with. Adrian would have to be handled. And the realization did not bother her they way she had thought it would. This was not vengeance or greed or evil. This was protection. This was necessity. This was survival.

“This is all because of me. Oliver, you have to hear me. You have to listen to reason. I…I need to do this. I can go to Chicago. I can stay with my sister or my Uncle Hank. They can protect me. No one will come near…” Again she did not have a chance to finish.

“Felicity. No. Drop it. You are not going anywhere.” Now he sounded angry.

But it was Matteo that caught Felicity's attention. He was watching her intently. He looked at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion and recognition. “You're from Chicago?” He simply asked.

The question caught her off guard given the situation they were facing. “Umm, yeah. Born and raised just off of Maxwell Street.” She replied then turned back to Oliver. “You know you’re kinda pigheaded. You know you have to let me go.”

Oliver stepped toward Felicity taking her hand in his. Leaning forward, close enough that his breath brushed across her cheek, he spoke quietly. “Felicity, Adrian will be dealt with. He will not hurt Matty, El, the boys, William, me or you. I will keep you safe. I will keep William safe. That is my purpose. To keep the people I love safe.” 

Felicity took a small in take of breath. And even though they had only truly known each other for a short time, it felt like a lifetime. She did not even have to think about it, she just knew. Deep in her bones she knew. 

Standing on the tips of her toes Felicity leaned in to whisper her reply in his ear, “I love you too Oliver.” 

Pulling back slightly Oliver looked into her eyes. “Always.” He quietly replied just before his lips lightly brushed Felicity's.

It had only taken Matty a few seconds to connect the dots after Felicity told him she was from Chicago. Maxwell Street had solidified his suspicion. Moving to stand in front of his wife, Matty leaned into El “I’ll be right back. I need to make as phone call. I know how to handle Adrian.” She watched as he walked away with a puzzled look on her face.

“Maxwell Street. What a small world.” Matty thought with a light chuckle as he headed to his office. “That sob won’t know what hit him.”

 

**Italian translations:

I'm going to shove this Jimmy Choo so far in his ass that he will need an excavator to retrieve it. I don't give a fuck if it's family.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Felicity slowly poured the final ingredient into the bowl of concoction between both herself and the fidgety little boy next to her.

Sitting down the small bowl she told William he could now stir all the ingredients together. Making homemade goop was one of his favorite things to do with his step-mom. 

William balanced on his knees as he stirred vigorously. Just the tip of his tongue poked out as it always did when he concentrated. 

A feeling of melancholy spread over Felicity as she wondered if Oliver had done the same thing as a small child. It hurt her heart that he himself would have no recollection because of his memory loss.

Felicity wished there was someone she could ask but all of Oliver's immediate family was gone. Some had passed away over the years while others he had personally cut from his life. She would never go behind his back and interact in any way with someone Oliver did not trust.

“If Oliver doesn’t trust them, then neither do I.” Felicity thought.

William giggled as he dumped out the emerald green goop onto the coffee table. It made a wet plopping sound as it hit the stone surface.

“Fel the goop farted.” He added with a snort of laughter.

“You’re such a silly billy.” Felicity laughed as she ruffled his hair.

Turning toward the knocking sound at the penthouse door, Felicity stood to answer it. “Be right back buddy.” 

As she headed to the door she called over her shoulder, “Do not get any of that on the couch. Daddy doesn’t want a sticky goopy couch.” just as William was about to drop the slimy concoction on their leather sofa.

“Ah man!!” He groaned dropping the green blob back onto the table with a squishy plop. 

Opening the door she was surprised to see Matteo with Oliver being out on assignment. 

“Matte…Matty?” Felicity corrected herself almost instantly. It was still taking some getting use to. “Oliver isn’t here. He left late last night. Not that you don’t already know that. I mean you were the one that sent him. On the trip that you sent him on. Last night. Sorry…rambling again.” She inwardly groaned at her tendency to ramble on.

Matty smiled at Felicity, wondering how it had taken him so long to recognize her.

“Actually, I came to see you Felicity. Can we talk for a moment?” He asked almost hesitantly.

“Oh.” Was all she could think of to reply. There was only confusion as to why Matty would want to speak to her.

 

Matty and Felicity sat across from each other at the dining table, both nursing their own warm mugs of coffee.

Confusion still fluttered through her mind, “Why would he want to speak to me? What did I do? Oh frack, this is it. Yup, the jig is up. Why is it called a jig? I need to look up jig. Oh yeah,” Felicity shook her errant ramblings away. “He wants me to leave. To protect Oliver and the business. I’m a distraction. A liability.” She thought sadly. It was that self-doubting part of her psyche that was preparing for Matty to ask her to leave Oliver, to make his life less complicated.

The next words out of Matty’s mouth threw her for a serious loop.

Matty cleared his throat as he began to speak, he had a far off look in his eyes. “It was December, the exact date I can’t recollect. I was….I was nine. I was small for my age. Nonna called me her Piccolo Uomo.” 

There must have been a questioning look in Felicity's eyes because Matty translated for her, “Little man. But Uncle Hank called me Manny.”

A sudden flash of a memory from her childhood jolted through Felicity's mind. An image of a dark haired thin little boy. The young boy was standing at the entrance way to her Uncle Hank’s front room, he looked at her younger self out of curiosity. Felicity didn’t speak a word, she was quiet, well she was quiet around strangers. With family and friends she was “a chatter box” as her daddy called her.

Although he was older he was no bigger than herself. A set of eyes that were so dark that they appeared black danced across her memories. The same set of eyes, now aged several years, were now staring back at her intently.

“You were wearing polka dot leggings, a panda shirt, and that ridiculous red boggin'. You wore it everywhere.”

Felicity smiled with a tinge of sadness. “My dad bought it for me the day before he….” Her voice painfully faded away.

“That makes sense looking back.” Matty nodded his head in understanding. “Erin warned me not to harass you about it.” Subconsciously he rubbed his left upper arm. “Vehemently warned me.” Matty smiled at the memory.

“That sounds like Erin.” Felicity chuckled as she wiped a tear away. 

Erin was her cousin. Her father was Felicity's mom's brother. But after Uncle Hank took her in when her parents died in the wreck, Erin became her sister. Her greatest protector. Her biggest defender. And for a short time Felicity considered the thin dark haired boy that was Erin’s best friend another protector and defender. He might have knocked a few bullies around in her defense. Sometimes all Manny had to do was step up, his father's name carried a lot of weight. She had called him Uncle Mikey.

Felicity had never connected the dots, years had faded her memories of that time and place. Manny and his family had moved away when she was ten. Where she didn’t remember.

But now it was all clear, reaching out Felicity squeezed Matteo's hand. “Manny!?!” She said with a questioning tone.

“Sorry, it took me a little while but it finally hit me. Uncle Hank always called you Peanut, so I didn't recall your real name at first.” He replied lightly squeezing Felicity's hand in return.

She leaned back into her chair with a sigh. “Manny, you’re going to kill him aren’t you?” Felicity felt almost detached from her own voice. This was all starting to feel inevitable.

Felicity knew Oliver wanted to kill Adrian but was holding back because she hadn’t been comfortable with it. Elena wanted to kill Adrian, more than likely in an excruciating way, because she was Elena. Matty… “I mean Manny, frack this is so confusing.” She thought. Manny had no reason to kill him other than to protect his business. But now, now this was personal for him.

“Felicity I made your sister a promise all those years ago to protect you. I keep my promises.”

She understood. In his world you protect your family. And family wasn’t always blood. Suddenly her brain came to a sudden halt. She stood up pacing back and forth, her mind going a mile a minute repeatedly reciting “Frack, frack, frack.”

Just as fast as Felicity had stood she stopped in her tracks to look at Manny. “You called Uncle Hank didn’t you?”

The guilt was written all over his face. “Frack!!!!!”

 

Oliver opened the door to the penthouse he shared with William and now Felicity. He could hear music as well as Felicity’s voice floating from the other room along with the sound of dishes clanking. Oliver smiled at her insistence to not use the dishwasher. She said bad things happened when she used appliances.

Oliver leaned into the door frame of the kitchen entrance watching Felicity dancing and singing. Soap suds danced in the air every time she waved her hands around. A warm sensation spread throughout his chest. It was in this moment that he realized he had never loved anyone the way that he loved this woman.

Walking quietly towards Felicity as she orchestrated an elaborate air drumming sequence, Oliver spun her around in his arms.

Felicity let out a loud shriek. She had never been more mortified in her life. To say she sounded like a dying walrus when she sang was a compliment. Felicity instinctively threw her hands up in front of her face.

Oliver gently pulled her hands free from her eyes winding them around the back of his neck. Sliding his arms around Felicity’s body, Oliver rested his hands on her lower back as he began to sway them to the music.

Felicity knew her face was still red and splotchy from embarrassment. She also needed to fill Oliver in on her earlier conversation with Manny, however that all seemed to fade away as he leaned in close. His lips hoovered just next to her earlobe. The warmth of his breath brushed across her neck as he began to sing the final lines of the song. Felicity melted inside.

Leaning back Oliver kissed the tip of her nose. With a huge grin he popped her butt just before grabbing a red apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. He leaned against the wall as he took a bit, juice dripped down his hand. That devilish grin still on his face. Something stirred low in Felicity's belly.

She took a cleansing breath, trying to brush away images of licking the juice off of Oliver's hand. “The corner of his mouth…across the scruff on his chin.” Felicity shook her head as a blush creeped across her face.

As a much needed distraction she turned to stop the music playing in the background. Instead Oliver pulled Felicity into his body. “You don’t have to do that. I like listening to your music Felicity.” 

A look of doubt involuntarily crossed her face. “He never did.” She couldn’t stop from thinking. Felicity hated that he still poisoned her thoughts at times.

“I’m not him.” Oliver replied to her unspoken words. “I love all of you Felicity. The Dr. Who fanfiction writing, angsty 90's music listening, Sunday crossword solving, musical movie watching, losing yourself in a book for hours you. All of it. Every fracking inch of you Felicity Meghan Smoak.”

Oliver pulled Felicity tighter to his chest. His forehead resting on hers. “I. Love. All. Of. You.” He spoke each word with unwavering conviction. “Always.” Oliver added just as his lips crashed into Felicity's.

 

The song Felicity is rocking out to as she does dishes is “Iris” by the GooGoo Dolls.

The ending song lines that Oliver sings to Felicity are:

“And I don’t want the world to see me,  
Cause I don’t think that they'd understand.  
When everything's meant to be broken,  
I just want you to know who I am.

I just want you to know who I am.  
I just want you to know who I am.  
I just want you to know who I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let everyone know, there is no need to worry about Matty (Manny) and Felicity's relationship being anything other than platonic. He is like a brother to her and a her a sister to him.


End file.
